title: The need to be held: state or trait variable.
abstract: The need to be held has been observed to be related to various moods and personality dimensions. It is unclear, however, whether this need functions as a state or trait variable. Data were collected from 85 pregnant subjects at 4 months, 9 months, and 6 weeks postpartum. Measures of the need to be held, neuroticism, relationship with parents, self-concept and maternal attachment were used to determine whether the need to be held is a trait or state variable, as well as to explore the etiology of the need to be held. Data were analyzed by a trend analysis of repeated measures and analysis of variance. Results showed that the need to be held is a trait variable in that it did not change throughout pregnancy and is related to the predisposition of depression. The etiology of the need to be held remains open for investigation.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003858:Dependency, Psychological; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006234:Handling, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010551:Personality; D010553:Personality Development; D010555:Personality Inventory; D049590:Postpartum Period; D011247:Pregnancy; D011261:Pregnancy Trimester, First; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology