Maternal withdrawal from handicapped toddlers

Videotaped observations of the free-play interaction of mothers and (a) 12 physically handicapped, (b) 14 premature and (c) nine healthy 2-year-olds were evaluated. Mothers of handicapped toddlers were significantly more likely to ignore their children at 24 months than were mothers in other groups....

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of child psychology and psychiatry Vol. 26; no. 3; p. 381
Main Authors Wasserman, G A, Allen, R
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 01.05.1985
Subjects
Child, Preschool
Disabled Persons - psychology
Female
Humans
Infant
Intellectual Disability - psychology
Intelligence
Male
Maternal Behavior
Mother-Child Relations
Rejection (Psychology)
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Summary:Videotaped observations of the free-play interaction of mothers and (a) 12 physically handicapped, (b) 14 premature and (c) nine healthy 2-year-olds were evaluated. Mothers of handicapped toddlers were significantly more likely to ignore their children at 24 months than were mothers in other groups. Further, although children's Bayley scores had not differed when seen previously at 1 year, children of mothers who ignored at 2 years had lower concurrent 2-year IQ scores and experienced an average 30-point drop between the two evaluations. These results support clinical reports of maternal withdrawal from handicapped young children and suggest that the mother-child dyad in such cases may be at continuing risk throughout the early years.
ISSN:0021-9630
DOI:10.1111/j.1469-7610.1985.tb01940.x