Children's Use of Inanimate Transitional Objects in Coping With Hassles

Abstract

This study examined children's use of inanimate transitional objects when coping with daily hassles. Mothers of 50 preschoolers rated their children on frequency of hassles, intensity of reaction to daily hassles, coping effectiveness, and frequency of object use. No significant differences were found between those children with an inanimate transitional object and those without such an object. Among those children with an object, a significant object effect on frequency of hassles (p less than .05) and a significant object effect on coping effectiveness were found. A significant age effect was also found, indicating that older children used their inanimate transitional objects more often than younger children. Among those children with an inanimate transitional object, significant positive relationships were found between frequency of hassles, intensity of reaction to hassles, coping effectiveness, and frequency of object use. The results indicated that children who used their thumb as an inanimate transitional object experienced fewer hassles than children who used a soft object. The results also suggested that an increase in the number of hassles experienced was related to more intense reactions to hassles, less effective coping, and an increase in object use. The nature of the object and the developmental issue of separation-individuation are considered as well.