Reunion Behavior Research Articles

Separation and reunion behaviors as criteria of attachment to mothers and fathers

Twenty infants were observed 4 times between 7 and 13 months of age in a short-term longitudinal study. Responses to separations from and reunions with mothers and fathers are reported. None of the measures showed a preference for either parent at any age. Other studies confirm that even young infants are attached to both parents. It is argued that greater attention must be paid to the family's role in social and personality development.

The Reliability and Stability of Individual Differences in Infant-Mother Attachment

50 infants were seen twice in the Ainsworth and Wittig Strange Situation to assess individual differences in the quality of infant-mother attachment at 12 and at 18 months of age. Evidence for the stability of individual differences was clearly a function of the level of analysis. The reliability of discrete-behavior variables was typically very low, and there was little evidence of temporal stability. There was clear evidence for stable individual differences in the analysis of behavior category data. This was especially true of behavior toward the mother during reunion after brief separations. Classification data based largely on reunion behavior and crying were even more stable across the 6-month interval. Each infant was assigned to 1 of 3 categories (secure/normative, avoidant, or ambivalent) on the basis of the patterning of attachment behavior at 12 months. 48 of the 50 infants were independently reassigned to the same category on the basis of the same behaviors at 18 months. In contrast to time sampling of phenotypically similar discrete behaviors, assessments which take into account the behavioral context of behavior yield more reliable assessments of individual differences in the quality of infant-adult relationships. Reprinted from: CHILD DEVELOPMENT, 1978, 49, 483-494.

Attachment of Kibbutz Infants to Mother and Metapelet

122 children, born and reared on Israel kibbutzim, were observed in a cross-sectional study of infant attachment behaviors. Their reaction to either mother or metapelet (caretaker) separation and reunion was recorded over a 13-sequence experimental paradigm. Results indicated that children protested equally to either mother or metapelet separation when left with a stranger. Reunion behaviors seemed to be sensitive to the different attachment relationships the infant had with each caretaker, while separation behaviors were not. The quality of the infant-mother interactions as it is related to the infant's ordinal position had a significant effect on infant attachment behavior in the experimental situation. Firstborn (only) children were more anxious than later-borns during the session. Speculation as to the origin of these significant ordinal differences is discussed.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MOTHER-CHILD INTERACTION FOR THE UNDERSTANDING, OF CHILD ABUSE AND FAILURE-TO-THRIVE: A VIDEOTAPE ANALYSIS

Mother-child interaction and behavioral developmental characteristics of infants with diagnoses of child abuse and failure-to-thrive were examined in videotaped observations. 40 subjects, from a 400 case epidemiologic study of pediatric social illnesses were observed with their mothers in a laboratory playroom setting. These infants 12-30 months of age were studied on measures of separation protest, attachment and reunion behaviors tempo and organization of play. For comparison purposes a control group matched on age, sex, socio-economic status, age at hospitalization and length of hospitalization was observed. Analyses of the videotapes reveal important behavioral distinctions for the two groups in comparison to normal developmental age trends. This methodology permits a clearer understanding of the mother-child interaction as an important diagnostic issue. This suggests the need for integrating mother-child interactional issues with the more traditional focus on maternal psychopathology and social class in considerations of etiology. The value of this methodology for the behavioral study of clinical syndromes is illustrated with videotaped vignettes.