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Family dynamics as predictors of infant disposition
Author(s) -
Brackbill Yvonne,
White Marjorie,
Wilson Margaret,
Kitch Donna
Publication year - 1990
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(199022)11:2<113::aid-imhj2280110204>3.0.co;2-q
Subject(s) - disposition , dependability , psychology , affect (linguistics) , developmental psychology , consistency (knowledge bases) , dynamics (music) , social psychology , computer science , artificial intelligence , pedagogy , software engineering , communication
In this longitudinal study of mothers, their families, and their infants, both discriminant and regression analyses showed that prenatal reports of family dynamics predicted infant disposition at 8 months with considerable accuracy. The most important predictive component was organization and consistency within the family unit as well as the dependability of other family members. Possible mechanisms by which family dynamics might affect the infant's developing disposition are discussed.