Maternal personality and attitude in disturbances of child rearing.

Abstract

Personality and attitudinal variables were assessed prenatally and three months following the birth of the first child of 267 high-risk mothers. Four consistent factors emerged and, along with constructs rationally derived from sets of variables, were analyzed for discriminatory power. Level of Personal Integration yielded the strongest differentiation with respect to adequacy of maternal care, suggesting this as an area for exploration in interventions into mother-child disturbance.