The effect of mandatory protective daycare on mutual attachment in maltreating mother-infant dyads

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

Twenty-two children for whom protective daycare was sought were followed for four years. Those placed in daycare had earlier removals for foster care than the children who could not be placed in daycare. At the end of four years the outcomes for the two groups were similar. It was concluded that mandatory protective daycare had hastened, but not caused, the removal of the children. This unexpected outcome was explained in terms of attachment theory. Evidence was cited showing that both maltreating mothers and their infants could be considered anxiously attached and that such individuals would be more than normally vulnerable to experiences of separation. In this study both mothers and infants reacted to the daycare placement with a combination of direct anger and ignoring (repressed anger). These reactions exacerbated the already strained mother-infant relationships leading to increased abuse and neglect of the infants and, therefore, earlier removal.