Dynamics of the dyad: How mothers and infants co-construct interaction spaces during object play

Studies of dyadic interaction often examine infants’ social exchanges with their caregivers in settings that constrain their physical properties (e.g., infant posture, fixed seating location for infants and adults). Methodological decisions about the physical arrangements of interaction, however, may limit our ability to understand how posture and position shape them. Here we focused on these embodied properties of dyadic interaction in the context of object play. We followed 30 mother–infant dyads across the first year of life (at 3, 6, 9, and 12 months) and observed them during 5 min of play with a standard set of toys. Using an interval-based coding system, we measured developmental change in infant posture, how mothers and infants positioned themselves relative to one another, and how they populated interaction spaces with objects. Results showed that mother–infant dyads co-constructed interaction spaces and that the contributions of each partner changed across development. Dyads progressively adopted a broader spatial co-orientation during play (e.g., positioned at right angles) across the first year. Moreover, advances in infants’ postural skills, particularly increases in the use of independent sitting in real time, uniquely predicted change in dyadic co-orientation and infants’ actions with objects, independent of age. Taken together, we show that the embodied properties of dyadic object play help determine how interactions are physically organized and unfold, both in real time and across the first year of life.     

幼儿气质与母亲教养方式的选择

采用ＴＴＱ儿童气质问卷、母亲教养方式问卷和访谈法,对３－５岁３２２名幼儿气质及其母亲教养方式进行调查,探求幼儿气质对母亲教养方式的影响,以提高母亲对其子女教养水平和有效性。研究结果表明：幼儿气质是影响母亲教养方式的重要因素,其作用不同。１．容易引发母亲良好的教养方式的积极气质因素,如较高的适应性、积极乐观的心境、较高的注意持久性;２．容易引发母亲不良的教养方式的消极气质因素,如高反应强度、高活动性     

Social cognitive correlates of physical activity among single mothers with young children

ObjectivesSingle mothers experience negative health consequences that might be reduced through participation in physical activity, yet little is known about physical activity correlates among this population. This study examined social cognitive theory (SCT) correlates of physical activity among single mothers with young children.DesignCross-sectional.MethodSingle mothers (N = 94) with at least one child less than 5 years old completed SCT questionnaires, wore an accelerometer for one week, and then completed the Godin Leisure Time Exercise questionnaire. Physical activity scores were standardized and averaged to yield a composite physical activity score.ResultsRegression analysis indicated that self-efficacy was a direct predictor of composite physical activity; in the final model planning was the only statistically significant predictor of composite physical activity scores.ConclusionsPlanning and self-efficacy might be important factors to include when designing physical activity interventions for single mothers.     

Working with psychosis: Part 3 – ‘Struggling to contain madness – losing and recovering a capacity to think’

This is the penultimate paper in a series about working with a patient suffering from a psychotic disorder. The paper describes the third year of the work in which ‘John’ had four breakdowns in a period of six months. Much of the time I was unable to think. I was sitting on the edge of my chair either worrying that John was breaking down again or trying to help him recover from a breakdown. My small office became a cramped prison cell in which I felt myself a witness to a disturbing dance into and out of madness. A turning point seemed to happen as I developed a way of thinking about John's breakdowns. I seemed then to become a less persecutory figure in John's mind and more someone to whom John could turn for help. We found a way of thinking and talking about an infant in John. John responded by finding a way of being in my office as though he was reclining in a hammock. His breakdowns ceased. He was able to share in common humanity's concerns following September 11. Finally, I discuss thoughts about containment particularly about the paternal role in containment, drawing on Robert Caper's elaboration of Bion's ideas about containing psychotic aspects of experience.     

Impervious and intrusive: The impenetrable object in transference and countertransference

The author describes an internal object that he calls the ‘impenetrable object’ which has two characteristics: being impervious to the projections from the patient and being intrusive, i.e. projecting into the patient. It arises out of an early relationship with a mother who may be generally disturbed or traumatized so that she is unable to take in or tolerate the child's projections and may use the child as a receptacle for her own projections. He links the concept of an impenetrable object with other concepts such as Williams's ‘reversal of the container–contained relationship’ and Green's ‘dead mother’. If such an object dominates the patient's internal world, it can lead to severe difficulties in the analytic process. Interpretations may be experienced as violent projections from the analyst which the patient has to ward off and the analyst may enact an impervious or intrusive object in various ways. The author describes a case in which such dynamics played a significant role. He argues that intensive work in the countertransference is required to detect subtle enactments and allow a shift in the analyst, which in turn can enable change in the patient. He gives clinical material that demonstrates such work by the analyst and illustrates the shift from an impenetrable object to a more permeable one in the patient's internal world.     

Snake mother imagery in generalised anxiety disorder

Abstract

Symbols psychoanalysis, depth psychology, mythology and religion from a multiplicity of perspectives – there are many guidelines for their interpretation and integration in clinical practice. The present study, based on a Jungian analytic model, incorporated the snake mother as an imaginary symbol in a patient with generalised anxiety disorder and her treatment within a clinical case study. From an integrative symbolism approach, snakes are considered mysterious, with the ability to express the primary instinctual powers and psychic energy that take root beyond the ego strength and archetypal images. Here, with respect to the patient's main complaint and her underlying core conflict according to Jungian therapy and Persian mythology, it was indicated that the snake mother symbolism, an imagery object from childhood to adolescence, originated from both the personal and the collective unconsciousness. The way in which the symbolism of the snake mother came to work in the therapeutic process was similar to a that of dream and symbolism approach. The snake mother operated as an alternative animus in the shape of a caregiving mother, and supported the patient against her father's misbehavior during her early childhood. It could represent the shadow, the reconsolidation of the anima/animus for patient, and a projection of negative thoughts and actions from animal instincts.     

Perversion,eating disorders and sex roles

Abstract

Russell J.M. Perversion, Eating Disorders and Sex Roles. Int Forum Psychoanal 1992;1:98-103. Stockholm. ISSN 0803-706X

Perversion is presented as a fascination with something we also regard as repugnant. A perversion like exhibitionism is a metaphor illuminating the stereotypically masculine. An eating disorder such as bulimia provides a metaphor illuminating the stereotypically feminine. It also fits the account given of perversion. Stereotypes for masculine and feminine, though cultivated in social expectations, are rooted in the infant fantasy world. One is fascinated with the fate of what one has ejected (projected). This contributes to a groundwork for masculinity and exhibitionism. One is fascinated and ambivalent about what one takes in (introjects) which contributes to a groundwork for femininity and bulimia. Genitalia are discovered subsequently, as appropriate representations of these options. Our capacity to be socialized into gender roles, and our discovery of our genitalia en route to this socialization, are foreshadowed by these deeper and earlier styles.