title: [The importance of the transitional object for the psychological development of the child].
abstract: This study addresses the question whether children taken for treatment to a psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents differ from other, not noticeably disturbed children in their use of a transitional object. Parents of mentally disturbed children between six and eight years of age were interviewed about the transitional objects used by their children. The control group was made up of children of corresponding ages from an ordinary nursery school. Based on the extant literature, the concept of "transitional object" is described and defined. Twenty two research hypotheses were formed and subjected to statistical tests. As the main result concerning the research question it emerged that the children suffering from psychiatrical disturbances needed a transitional object mainly in their fourth year of life, but to some extent even in their fifth and sixth year whereas the "healthy" children in the control group without noticeable disturbances used a transitional object mainly in their first and second years. It could be shown with statistical significance that psychiatrically disturbed children had a transitional object at a later age and for a longer period of time than healthy, undisturbed children.
authors.affiliation: Klinik für Kinder- und Jugendpsychiatrie, Rheinischen Landes und Hochschulklinik Essen.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kolbenstvedt-Michel
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Eggers
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D002648:Child; D002653:Child Behavior Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010553:Personality Development
vernacular_title: Die Bedeutung des Ubergangsobjektes für die psychische Entwicklung des Kindes.