Woman's social status as a reflection of the internal relationship to mother and father in both sexes1

Abstract

Starting with three examples showing different kinds of external barriers which meet a woman in her professional life, the author examines how they are related to internal elements. She points out power as a common factor, and proposes that Freud, as well as many succeeding male and female psychoanalysts, wishfully described women as suffering from deficiencies, while the unconscious image of Mother in children and adults of both sexes is the very opposite of this: a potentially dangerous or ideally good, powerful creature. She argues that both men and women out of fear for this power try to restrict and belittle the capabilities of women. This thesis is further delineated by references to Greek mythology and clinical examples.     

Sado-masochism as a defense against merging: Six case studies

This paper reports on several patients who use sado-masochism as a defense against an unconscious wish for and fear of merging. The sado-masochism can be expressed as a sexual perversion or in a difficult ungratifying interpersonal relationship. These relationships have some of the quality of addictions in that the patients have a compulsive need to continue them and find it extremely difficult to leave them. Therapy must focus on helping the patient become more separate, rather than on other problems which may also be present. Initially, the therapist needs to take an educational stance in regard to the process the patient must complete, rather than the more traditional analytic stance.     

Equivalence of mother and father ratings of ADHD in children

Obtaining data from multiple informants provides a more comprehensive diagnostic picture in the assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Differences in symptom ratings have been observed between parent- and teacher-report scales, though less information is available regarding differences between mothers and fathers. To address this gap, this study examines the rater agreement between mothers and fathers on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) ADHD Symptom Rating Scale (DSM-ADHD-SRS). The participants consisted of 337 children diagnosed with ADHD who underwent comprehensive neuropsychological assessment. Confirmatory factor analysis indicates that a three-factor model comprising inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity symptoms provides the best fit for both mothers’ and fathers’ ratings. Mothers provided higher mean ratings for the inattention scale. These results suggest that the factor structure for the DSM-ADHD-SRS is the same, regardless of parent gender. However, symptoms of inattention may vary depending upon which parent completes the ratings. This discrepancy could lead to differences in diagnostic impressions in clinical evaluations.     

The inter-relations of mother and father attachment, self-esteem and aggression during late adolescence

This study examined three models depicting the relations between mother and father attachment, self-esteem and aggression. A total of 385 participants (173 males and 212 females), aged from 18 to 20 years, completed self-rating questionnaires covering mother and father attachment, self-esteem and aggression. Results showed that self-esteem had additive and mediation effects on both the father attachment-aggression and mother attachment-aggression relationships, and also moderated the mother attachment-aggression relation. These findings are discussed in terms of different models for the inter-relations of mother and father attachment, self-esteem and aggression in late adolescence.     

Looking a gift horse in the mouth as a defense against increasing intimacy

The authors hypothesize that people who fear dependence evidence a particular defensive bias by perceiving benefits received to have been less voluntarily given, which justifies not depending upon their partner. In Study 1, both members of married couples completed daily diaries regarding benefits they gave and received and the extent to which each was given involuntarily versus voluntarily. Avoidant attachment measured before marriage predicted perceiving one’s spouse to have given benefits less voluntarily, controlling for that spouse’s reports of how voluntarily benefits had been given. In Study 2, participants identified three specific benefits received from a friend. Days later, participants were primed with avoidant feelings or not before reporting the extent to which the benefits identified earlier had been given voluntarily. Participants primed to feel avoidant perceived their friend to have given them benefits less voluntarily than did the remaining participants.     

Infant–mother and infant–father synchrony: The coregulation of positive arousal

To examine the coregulation of positive affect during mother–infant and father–infant interactions, 100 couples and their first‐born child were videotaped in face‐to‐face interactions. Parents' and infant's affective states were coded in one‐second frames, and synchrony was measured with time‐series analysis. The orientation, intensity, and temporal pattern of infant positive arousal were assessed. Synchrony between same‐gender parent–infant dyads was more optimal in terms of stronger lagged associations between parent and infant affect, more frequent mutual synchrony, and shorter lags to responsiveness. Infants' arousal during mother–infant interaction cycled between medium and low levels, and high positive affect appeared gradually and was embedded within a social episode. During father–child play, positive arousal was high, sudden, and organized in multiple peaks that appeared more frequently as play progressed. Mother–infant synchrony was linked to the partners' social orientation and was inversely related to maternal depression and infant negative emotionality. Father–child synchrony was related to the intensity of positive arousal and to father attachment security. Results contribute to research on the regulation of positive emotions and describe the unique modes of affective sharing that infants coconstruct with mother and father. ©2003 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Knowledge of self,mother, and father in preterm and full-term toddlers

Full-term and preterm toddler's featural knowledge of self, mother, and father was assessed in relation to individual differences in age, attachment status, and cognitive ability. No relation was found between infants' knowledge of self and the predictor variables at 13 months. Different factors, however, were related to infants' knowledge of mothers' and fathers' features. Hierarchical regressions revealed that at 20 months, after controlling for the relation between complexity of knowledge and MDI Bayley scores, full-term infants who were securely attached to their mothers demonstrated more complex knowledge of her than insecurely attached infants or premature Infants' knowledge of self at 20 months and father at both 13 and 20 months was significantly related to attachment status but not term status. These data are discussed in the context of possible differential influences of term status on infant-mother and infant-father interactions.     

Inter-relationships among attachment to mother and father, self-esteem, and career indecision

This study investigated the mediating role of adolescents’ global self-esteem, based on the relationship between adolescents’ mother or father attachment and their career indecision; as well as the mediating role of adolescents’ career indecision on the relationship between mother or father attachment and self-esteem. Two hundred and forty-one adolescents completed a self-report questionnaire that measured the difficulty in making decisions about their future academic and vocational careers, their global self-esteem, and their attachment to their parents. Results showed that the more adolescents felt attached to their mother and father the easier it was for them to make career decisions. The self-esteem mediation hypothesis is supported as a function of parent and adolescent gender. Similarly, the mediating role of career indecision is confirmed and depends on the gender of both parents and adolescents. Interpersonal context, identity development, adolescent career development and the relationship between them are discussed.