The impact of parents' marriages, measured prenatally, on their parenting of firstborn, 3-month-old infants was assessed. Though the association between marriage and parenting was the focus, adult psychological adjustment was measured also to rule out the alternative hypothesis that psychological adjustment relates to both marital quality and parenting quality and accounts for any association between them. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses in which parental adjustment was entered first as a covariate were used to test the relation between close/confiding marriages and parenting of 3-month-old infants. From the findings, it was concluded that even when differences in individual psychological adjustment are taken into account, mothers are warmer and more sensitive with their infants and fathers hold more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles as parents when they are in close/confiding marriages. It is asserted that qualities of marriage play an important part in the development of parent-child relationships.
The Ist-year correlates of infant-father and infant-mother attachment were investigated in a longitudinal study of early family development. Mothers and fathers were observed interacting with their firstborn, 3-month-old infants. Parents also were interviewed individually at 3 months child age concerning their time with the infant and their attitudes and reports about the infant and their parental role. Mothers and fathers were seen in the strange situation with their infant at 12 months. For infants and fathers, security of attachment was predicted from the qualities of interaction at 3 months, the father's attitudes and reports about the infant and the paternal role, and the father's time with the infant. For infants and mothers, security of attachment was predicted from the qualities of interaction at 3 months and the mother's time with the infant. Over the last 2 decades, Bowlby's attachment theory (Bowlby, 1969) and the work of Ainsworth and others (Ainsworth, Blehar, Waters, & Wall, 1978) have influenced the thinking of many developmental psychologists about the infant-mother relationship and the importance of the emotional bond that develops between the infant and mother during the 1st year. Though much research has established the 1st-year correlates of infant-mother attachment at 12 months (see Belsky & Isabella, 1988), much less is known about the early correlates of the infant-father attachment relationship. Fathers as Attachment Figures Because, in Western cultures, mothers typically become the preferred attachment figure and fathers typically become the preferred playmate (Bretherton, 1985), it is unclear whether the attachment construct is as important in describing infant-father relationships as it seems to be in describing infantmother relationships. Though one parent can serve in both roles, Bretherton notes that Bowlby (1969) considered the roles to be conceptually distinct, with the child seeking an attachment figure when under stress and a playmate when in a positive mood. In a number of studies (
The impact of parents' marriages, measured prenatally, on their parenting of firstborn, 3-month-old infants was assessed. Though the association between marriage and parenting was the focus, adult psychological adjustment was measured also to rule out the alternative hypothesis that psychological adjustment relates to both marital quality and parenting quality and accounts for any association between them. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses in which parental adjustment was entered first as a covariate were used to test the relation between close/confiding marriages and parenting of 3-month-old infants. From the findings, it was concluded that even when differences in individual psychological adjustment are taken into account, mothers are warmer and more sensitive with their infants and fathers hold more positive attitudes toward their infants and their roles as parents when they are in close/confiding marriages. It is asserted that qualities of marriage play an important part in the development of parent-child relationships.
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