Attachment in adult daughters of alcoholic fathers.

AIM: This study was designed to explore the utility of attachment theory for explaining socio-emotional outcomes in adult daughters of alcoholic fathers (ADAF). It was hypothesized that ADAF would have more insecure attachment organizations than daughters of non-alcoholic parents (non-ADAF), and that ADAF would describe themselves as more disposed towards compulsive care-giving than non-ADAF. DESIGN: ADAF and a matched group of non-ADAF were compared on measures of attachment security and compulsive care-giving. PARTICIPANTS: From a larger sample of 251 female college students, 26 ADAF and a matched group of non-ADAF were identified to participate in the study. SETTING: A large, urban university in the northeastern US. MEASUREMENTS: Participants completed the Adult Attachment Interview and a questionnaire assessing characteristics of compulsive care-giving. FINDINGS: As predicted, ADAF had less secure attachment organizations then did non-ADAF. Although no group differences were observed for compulsive care-giving scores, compulsive care-giving was negatively correlated with attachment security for ADAF. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that the concept of attachment may be useful for understanding the developmental consequences of parenting in alcoholic families.

Child care improvement on a shoestring: evaluating a low-cost approach to improving the availability of quality child care.

The Philadelphia Early Childhood Collaborative (the Collaborative) was designed to improve the quality of child care by increasing coordination among organizations that locally deliver professional resources to child care providers. The evaluation examined the implementation of the Collaborative, utilization of its services, and the impact of service use on child care quality. Child care providers reported gains in their professional knowledge and behavior from using Collaborative resources and rated the resources highly. No long-term effects on provider behavior, knowledge, or attitudes were observed. Although the original organizations were able to function collaboratively and Collaborative services were widely used, more intensive interventions may be required to change the availability of quality child care.

The development of sex role stereotypes in the third year: relationships to gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preference, and family characteristics.

The onset and development of preschoolers' awareness of sex role stereotypes, gender labeling, gender identity, and sex-typed toy preference were explored in 26-, 31-, and 36-month-old children. Gender labeling, gender identity, sex-typed toy preferences, and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in significantly more 26-month-old children than would have been expected by chance. Verbal gender labeling was observed in a majority of 26-month-olds, while verbal and nonverbal gender identity were observed in a majority of 31-month-olds. Nonverbal gender labeling and awareness of adult sex role differences were observed in a majority of children by 36 months. No evidence of awareness of sex differences in children's toys was found in the majority of children at any age. Awareness of sex role differences in children's toys was not related to awareness of adult sex role differences. Brighter children were more aware of adult sex role differences. Sex-typed toy preference was not related to awareness of sex role differences but was related to gender identity. Predictors of sex role development included the mothers' employment, and the father's personality traits, attitudes toward women, and sex-typed activities in the home. Implications for theories of early sex role development are discussed.

Effects of stress and social supports on mother-child interactions in single- and two-parent families.

Social networks, coping abilities, life stresses, and mother-child interaction were studied in 28 mother-child pairs--14 single mothers and their preschool children and 14 matched married women and children. Questionnaires were used to measure the mothers' social network, coping abilities, and life stress; a mother-child interaction situation was used to measure maternal control, maternal maturity demands, maternal nurturance, mother-child communication, and child compliance. Single parents tended to be more socially isolated than married parents. They worked longer hours and received less emotional and less parental support. They tended to have less stable social networks and experience more potentially stressful life changes. Only in the household area did single mothers report more difficulties coping than 2-parent mothers. No significant differences were found in any of the 5 mother-child interaction variables. Different variables predicted mother-child interaction in the 2 samples. Predicting optimal mother-child interaction in single-parent families were fewer stressful life events, reduced social contact, increased parenting support, and hours maternal employment. Predicting optimal interaction in 2-parent families were fewer stressful life events, satisfaction with emotional support, and the availability of household help. Social contacts, household help, and employment differentially predicted mother-child interactions in the 2 groups. Implications of these differences for descriptions of the effect of social networks and maternal adjustment on child development are considered, as are implications for intervention.

Infant wariness toward strangers reconsidered: infants' and mothers' reactions to unfamiliar persons.

In this study, the interpretation of infants' responses to approaching strangers as "wariness" or "fear" was questioned by comparing infants' behaviors toward strangers with adults' behaviours toward strangers. 24 8-month-old infants and their mothers were observed in a standard laboratory situation. Both infants and mothers were approached by female strangers with a fast, 12-sec approach and a slow, 40-sec approach. Mothers' and infants' behaviors were coded at 4 distances during each approach. Behaviors coded were smile, alert face, quizzical look, frown, looks at mother/infant, looks at stranger, and averts gaze. Mothers showed significantly more behaviors typically labeled "wary" than did infants, particularly as the proximity of the stranger increased. These findings suggest that wary responses toward strangers are not unique to infants and may be more characteristic of the situation than of the developmental level of the individual.

The effects of height on infants' social responses to unfamiliar persons.

The effects of absolute height of an approaching unfamiliar person and height of the person relative to the infants' viewing height on infants' social responsiveness were investigated. 48 infants, 9--12 months old, were observed as 2 tall (6 feet, 2 inches) and 2 short (5 feet, 6 inches) male strangers approached them. Infants were divided into 3 viewing height groups: low (35 inches from the floor), medium (53 inches), and high (72 inches). Facial expresion, gase aversion, fretting/fussing, and directional movement were measured as the strangers touched the infants. Infants did not respond more negatively to tall versus short strangers. However, they did respond more negatively as a function of viewing-height condition. Infants who were in the low and medium conditions showed more movement away, more gaze aversion, and less concentration than infants in the highest viewing condition. These observations are explained ethologically in terms of an inborn predisposition to respond negatively to towering stimuli in unfamiliar settings. The importance of a multideterminant model of infants' social responses to unfamiliar persons is emphasized.

Sex differences in parent-infant interaction during free play, departure, and separation.

20 18-month-olds were observed with their mothers and 20 with their fathers in laboratory free-play, departure, and separation situations. Parent and infant behaviors were allowed to vary naturally. Although there were no parent sex or infant sex differences in infants' free-play behavior, there were parent sex X infant sex differences in parental free-play behaviors. Parents talked to, sat on the floor more with, and tended to share play more with same-sexed than opposite-sexed infants, and the patterning of free-play behaviors was different for mothers and fathers. During departure, fathers talked to the infants more than mothers. Infants were more distressed in the absence of same-sexed than opposite-sexed parents. There were infant sex X parent sex differences in the relationships between separation distress and parental free-play and departure behaviors. The implications of these findings for understanding differential roles of mothers and fathers, the development of sex differences, and the determinants of separation distress are discussed.