A longitudinal study of lateral biases in parents' cradling and holding of infants

Lateral preferences in parents' cradling and holding of their infants were assessed in a longitudinal study commencing 1–3 days after birth and ending at 18 months. Right-handed parents showed a consistent left-side preference, which declined slightly as the infants grew older. Left-handed mothers showed an initial left-side preference and then more variable holding behavior, including right-side preferences, in some conditions. No relationship between the parents' holding behavior and two measures of infant head posture was found. It is suggested that parental side-holding preferences and infant head orientation biases are components of a biobehavioral system designed to enhance the organization of the caregiver-infant relationship.     

When to offer cognitive behavioural or psychoanalytic psychotherapy in an integrated psychotherapy service: Are everyday allocation decisions theoretically congruent?

Different modes of psychotherapy can be an effective form of treatment for a range of mental health problems. Psychotherapy provision in the NHS is organised in a variety of ways, with patient entry to various modes of therapy determined by a range of factors including evidence‐based guidelines and patient or referrer preference. The methods by which patients arrive at a particular mode of psychotherapy are largely unreported. This paper aims to describe this process in one UK NHS psychotherapy service offering cognitive behavioural and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and provides data to inform a discussion on the theoretical congruence of these allocation decisions.     

Maternal perceptual style and mother-infant play behavior

Normal mothers' perceptions of an older child at play were used to assess maternal perceptual biases. Mothers then engaged in play encounters with their 15-month-old infants. Perceptual biases were related to infant and mother play behaviors. For example, positive perceptions were related to positive play and interpersonal behaviors, including mutual play and exchange games. The data suggest support for the hypothesis that maternal perceptions of child behavior may affect maternal behavior and thereby influence mother-child interactions.     

Dyadic synchrony in parent–child interactions: A link with maternal representations of attachment relationships

The study examined the relation between maternal representations of attachment relationships from childhood and current parent–child interactions with their own preschool aged children. Thirty-six mother–child dyads were recruited from a community sample. The Adult Attachment Interview was converted into a questionnaire (AAIQ) and used to classify mothers as either “secure” or “insecure.” The mother–child dyads then engaged in a 20-min, videotaped play interaction task. The quality of maternal representations of attachment relationships was related to the degree of dyadic synchrony, as well as maternal affect and style of relating. Secure mothers and their children engaged in a more fluid, synchronous process of give-and-take than insecure mothers and their children. In addition, secure mothers expressed more warmth and affection, and their style of relating was less intrusive and more encouraging of child autonomy than insecure mothers. Children of secure mothers sought closer contact and were more compliant than children of insecure mothers. These interaction patterns were uniquely related to maternal representations of attachment, independent of maternal age, education and SES. There were no differences in these patterns of relating between mothers who had experienced loving relationships in childhood (continuous secure) and mothers who had come to terms with unloving and painful childhood relationships (earned secure). Therefore, rather than the quality of childhood histories, it was the manner in which these early experiences were mentally organized and integrated in adulthood that was significantly related to current parent–child interaction patterns. Finally, these differences in parent–child interaction patterns that were apparent on the observational measure were in contrast to information obtained from a maternal self-report measure. © 1997 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health     

The infant's physical attractiveness: Its effect on bonding and attachment

The results of a project concerned with studying infants' physical attractiveness are reviewed. Information on what makes an infant cute and what the effects of infant cuteness are, is provided. These findings and hypotheses derived from them are then discussed in relation to the bonding and attachment phenomena. It is suggested that adults' initial reactions to the appearance of any infant are similar to what occurs during bonding, whereas differential reactions to infants varying in appearance are similar to the variability observed in the construction of an attachment relationship. Adults' reactions to atypical appearance are also discussed.     

“Experiences deemed religious”: Radical critique or temporary fix? Strategic ambiguity in Ann Taves’ Religious Experience Reconsidered

Ann Taves has written an interesting, lucid and informative book. In particular, the author's suggested reformulation of religious studies as the study of “things deemed special” indicates a critical alternative to the dominant discourse. But such a reformulation implies that the ‘secular’ side of the mutually parasitic religion‐secular binary also requires deconstruction. This in turn must surely lead to a critique of the representation of social psychology and related disciplines as ‘natural science’, a representation which itself is already dependent on the wider, globalizing, ideological religion/secular binary, and its supernatural/natural correlate. The author's ambiguous alternation between things deemed special and things deemed religious invites the discursive contours of ‘religion’ to re‐enter through the back door, leaving the status quo substantially intact