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Intrusive and Withdrawn Behaviours of Mothers Interacting with Their Infants and Boyfriends

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 1999

Sybil Hart ,
Tiffany Field ,
Nancy Jones  and
Regina Yando
Sybil Hart
Affiliation:
Texas Tech University, Lubbock, U.S.A.
Tiffany Field
Affiliation:
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, U.S.A.
Nancy Jones
Affiliation:
Touch Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine, U.S.A.
Regina Yando
Affiliation:
Harvard School of Medicine, Cambridge, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Investigated stability and change in intrusive and withdrawn interaction behaviours of 23 mothers in Study 1 and 31 mothers in Study 2. Comparisons between mother–infant and mother–boyfriend interactions revealed that mothers who had been withdrawn with their infants were quiet, bored-looking, physically distant, and underinvolved with their boyfriends. Mothers who had been intrusive with their infants were verbally sharp and controlling with their boyfriends. These findings suggested stability across social contexts. Comparing maternal responding to instructions to think about themselves (self-focus) or their infants (infant-focus) revealed that infant-focusing attenuated intrusive behavior among intrusive mothers and self-focusing attenuated negative affect among withdrawn mothers. These findings suggested that cognitive focusing ameliorates nonoptimal maternal behaviours and has differential effects on intrusive and withdrawn mothers.

Keywords

Depressionperinatalinfancy
Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , February 1999 , pp. 239 - 245
Copyright
© 1999 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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