Premium
Dimensions of naturally occurring mother‐infant separations during the first year of life
Author(s) -
Suwalsky Joan T. D.,
Klein Robert P.,
Zaslow Martha J.,
Rabinovich Beth A.,
Gist Nancy F.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0355(198721)8:1<1::aid-imhj2280080102>3.0.co;2-3
Subject(s) - separation (statistics) , context (archaeology) , psychology , developmental psychology , sample (material) , statistics , mathematics , chemistry , history , archaeology , chromatography
The goals of this paper are (1) to introduce a methodology developed to study mother‐infant separations that occur in the context of normal family life, including but going beyond separations associated with maternal employment; (2) to present illustrative data that describe the range of separations experienced by one sample of infants; and (3) to demonstrate how a focus on specific underlying dimensions results in a more precise characterization of the separation experience. It is necessary to identify the specific dimensions on which mother‐infant separations vary in order to clarify which aspects of separation are relevant to child outcome. Detailed histories of mother‐infant separations and concomitant substitute care during the first year of life were obtained by interview from 144 middle‐class mothers of first‐born infants. Far from being an unusual event, separation from mother was a normal experience during infancy for this sample. Six types of separation were identified, the majority of which have not been studied previously. Analyses indicated that naturally occurring mother‐infant separations can be differentiated statistically and compared in terms of amount of separation, stability of care, characteristics of caregivers, and characteristics of the substitute care setting.