title: Parsing the construct of maternal insensitivity: distinct longitudinal pathways associated with early maternal withdrawal.
abstract: The current paper expands on Ainsworth's seminal construct of maternal sensitivity by exploring the developmental pathways associated with one particular form of insensitivity: maternal withdrawal. Drawing on longitudinal data from infancy to age 20 in a high-risk cohort, we highlight how maternal withdrawal over the first eight years of life is associated with child caregiving behavior and with maternal role confusion, as well as with features of borderline and antisocial personality disorders. We also present evidence for the specificity of this pathway in relation to other aspects of maternal insensitivity and other aspects of child adaptation. To illuminate these pathways we both review recent published work and report new findings on the middle childhood and adolescent components of these trajectories. Finally, we consider the implications for assessment of maternal behavior in high-risk samples and indicate directions for productive future work.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School , Boston , USA.
authors.forename: Karlen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lyons-Ruth
authors.forename: Jean-Francois
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Bureau
authors.forename: M Ann
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Easterbrooks
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Obsuth
authors.forename: Kate
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hennighausen
authors.forename: Lauriane
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vulliez-Coady
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires