This associational study examines Maternal Separation Anxiety in a sample of at least college educated, employed mothers with young children in non-maternal care selected from Phase I of the National Institutes of Child Health and Development study of early child care. The study provides descriptive data on maternal separation anxiety from 6 months to 24 months after birth of a child, its association with indices of mother-child relations, and whether these associations are merely a manifestation of general neuroticism/anxiety or depressive symptoms, or if there is something unique about maternal separation anxiety of relevance to mother-child relations. Self-report and observational data on 147 mothers indicated that maternal separation anxiety showed high individual stability, but on average decreased over time. Maternal personality characteristics and maternal education level showed modest associations with MSA. However, MSA was associated with neither observed maternal behavior at day care drop-offs and pick-ups, nor infant-mother attachment in the expected patterns. Results suggest that MSA may not be a fruitful approach to thinking about parenting in a White, well-educated sample of women.
Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04222008-130915 |
Date | 30 June 2008 |
Creators | Gee, Amy Delaplane |
Contributors | Catherine G. Greeno, PhD., Joan I. Vondra, PhD., Christina J. Groark, PhD., Lindsay Clare Matsumura, PhD. |
Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
Language | English |
Detected Language | English |
Type | text |
Format | application/pdf |
Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04222008-130915/ |
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