The present longitudinal study investigated the role of security of child-mother attachment in the development of infant-firstborn relations in two-child families.
Its aims are threefold: 1) To assess the extent to which security of firstborn-mother attachment can predict the quality of firstborns' reaction to the birth of the second child; 2) to examine the joint impact of firstborn-mother and infant-mother attachment on the development of infant-sibling relations during the first two years of the infant's life; and 3) to assess the degree to which the quality of early sibling relationships is sensitive to maternal psychosocial functioning (e.g., life stress, marital harmony, psychiatric functioning) and to longitudinal changes therein. Subjects will be 200 two-parent families recruited over a 3-year period when mothers are in their second trimester of pregnancy with their second child. Firstborns will be between 2-4 years of age at recruitment. Each family will be visited at the second and third trimester of pregnancy and at 1-2, 6-8, 12-14, and 21-24 months post-partum. Analyses will focus on predicting the quality of infant-firstborn relations from the quality of each child's attachment to mother, with firstborn perspective-taking ability as a potentially important mediating variable. Structural equation modeling will also be employed to explore directions of influence among measures of maternal functioning, child-mother interaction, child-mother attachment, and infant-sibling relations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29MH044713-03
Application #
3475097
Study Section
Life Course and Prevention Research Review Committee (LCR)
Project Start
1989-09-01
Project End
1994-08-31
Budget Start
1991-09-01
Budget End
1992-08-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
1991
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Maryland Balt CO Campus
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
City
Baltimore
State
MD
Country
United States
Zip Code
21250