Childhood vs. adolescence transitional object attachment, and its relation to mental health and parental bonding.
871 participants, 375 boys and 496 girls, mean age 16.7 + 1, were administered the Parental Bonding Instrument (P.B.I.), the Brief Symptom Inventory (B.S.I.), the General Well-Being Questionnaire (G.W.B.) and the Chestnut Lodge Transitional Object Scale. Results supported Winnicott's theory: participants reporting attachment to a Transitional Object (T.O.) in their childhood reported significantly more optimal maternal bonding than participants who were not attached to a T.O. Participants reporting attachment to a T.O. in adolescence had significantly more psychiatric symptoms and less general well-being. Adolescence T.O. attachment might be considered a marker of mental distress in the general, normal population.
Bachar
E
E
Department of Psychiatry, Hadassah University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel.
Canetti
L
L
Galilee-Weisstub
E
E
Kaplan-DeNour
A
A
Shalev
A Y
AY
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D016487:Parenting; D011582:Psychological Theory