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Maternal self‐perceptions and reactions to infant crying among intrusive and withdrawn depressed mothers
Author(s) -
Jones Nancy Aaron,
Field Tiffany,
Hart Sybil,
Lundy Brenda,
Davalos Marisabel
Publication year - 2001
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/imhj.1019
Subject(s) - crying , psychology , feeling , empathy , developmental psychology , perception , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , neuroscience
Abstract This study compared intrusive ( N =15) and withdrawn ( N = 10) mothers' ratings of their own interaction styles with their infants and the behaviors of videotaped models of intrusive and withdrawn mothers. Withdrawn mothers rated themselves as less withdrawn than the model withdrawn mother. Intrusive mothers viewed themselves as more intrusive than the model intrusive mother. Both groups viewed their own infants as more outgoing than the infants of the model intrusive and withdrawn mothers. The withdrawn mothers reported feeling more distressed when they observed an infant (of an intrusive or withdrawn mother) crying, suggesting that they feel more empathy than the intrusive mothers. © 2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.