Abstract
Observational data on the young child interacting with either mother or father derive primarily from studies of families with traditional roles: the mother characteristically is the infant’s primary caregiver and the father fulfills the wage-earner role. Conceptualizations of maternal and paternal relationships, particularly theories stemming from the psychoanalytic tradition, similarly assume this family-role organization. Contrary to the dominant empirical and conceptual notions of early experience, however, there is a clear secular trend among all industrialized nations toward families more typically having two wage earners even when there are very young children (Cook, 1978). Indeed, the rate of increase in employment rates for U.S. mothers is greatest for those with young children. In the period in which employment rates doubled for mothers with school-age children, there was a threefold increase for mothers with pre-school-age children. In 1979 over 40% of U.S. mothers with children under age 3 were employed outside the home (U.S. Department of Labor, 1979). Despite the increasing prevalence of dual-wage-earner families, little is known about whether families with two wage earners have different styles of interacting with and caring for the young infant than is characteristically found in the traditional single-wage-earner family.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Belsky, J. Mother-father-infant interaction: A naturalistic observational study. Developmental Psychology, 1979, 15, 601–607.
Blehar, M. Anxious attachment and defensive reaction associated with day care. Child Development, 1974, 45, 683–692.
Caldwell, B. M., Wright, C. M., Honig, A. S., & Tannenbaum, J. Infant care and attachment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 1970, 40, 397–412.
Clarke-Stewart, K. A. And daddy makes three: The father’s impact on mother and young child. Child Development, 1978, 49, 466–478.
Cochran, M. M. Comparison of group day and family child-rearing patterns in Sweden. Child Development, 1977, 48, 702–707.
Cohen, S. E. Maternal employment and mother-child interaction. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 1978, 24, 189–197.
Cook, A. H. The working mother: A survey of problems and programs in nine countries. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University, 1978.
Fagot, B. J. Sex differences in toddlers’ behavior and parental reaciton. Developmental Psychology, 1974, 10, 554–558.
Fein, R. A. Men’s entrance to parenthood. Family Coordination, 1976, 25, 341–348.
Ferguson, C. A. Baby talk in six languages, American Anthropologist, 1964, 66, 103–114.
Field, T. Interaction behaviors of primary versus secondary caretaker fathers. Developmental Psychology, 1978, 14, 183–184.
Frank, L. K. Tactile communication. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 1957, 56, 209–225.
Golden, M., & Birns, B. Social class and infant intelligence. In M. Lewis (Ed.), Origins ofIntelligence. New York: Plenum Press, 1976.
Harlow, H. F. The nature of love. American Psychologist, 1958, 13, 673–685.
Kagan, J., Kearsley, R. B., & Zelazo, P. R. Infancy. Its place in human development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1978.
Kotelchuck, M. The infant’s relationship to the father: Experimental evidence. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development. New York: Wiley, 1976.
Lamb, M. E. Effects of stress and cohort on mother- and father-infant interaction. Developmental Psychology, 1976, 12, 435–443.
Lamb, M. E. The development of mother-infant and father-infant attachments in the second year of life. Developmental Psychology, 1977, 13, 637–648.
Lewis, M., & Weinraub, M. The father’s role in the infant’s social network. In M.E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development. New York: Wiley, 1976.
Parke, R. D. Perspectives on father-infant interactions. In J. Osofsky (Ed.), Handbook ofinfant development. New York: Wiley, 1979.
Parke, R. D., & O’Leary, S. Father-mother-infant interaction in the newborn period: Some findings, some observations, and some unresolved issues. In M. K. Riegel & J. Meacham (Eds.), The developing individual in a changing world (Vol. II). The Hague: Mouton, 1976.
Parke, R. D., O’Leary, S. E., & West, S. Mother-father-newborn interaction: Effects of maternal medication, labor, and sex of infant. Proceedings of the American PsychologicalAssociation, 1972, 85–86.
Parke, R. D., & Sawin, D. B. The family in early infancy: Social interactional and attitudinal analysis. In F. Pedersen (Ed.), The father-infant relationship: Observational studies inthe family setting. New York: Praeger, 1980.
Pedersen, F. A., Anderson, B. J., & Cain, R. L. Parent-infant and husband-wife interactions observed at age five months. In F. Pedersen (Ed.), The father-infant relationship:Observational studies in the family setting. New York: Praeger, 1980.
Ramey, C., & Smith, B. Assessing the intellectual consequences of early intervention with high risk infants. American Journal of Mental Deficiency, 1976, 81, 318–324.
Rapoport, R., & Rapoport, R. N. Dual career families re-examined. London: Martin Robertson, 1976.
Ricciuti, H. Fear and development of social attachments in the first year of life. In M. Lewis & L. A. Rosenblum (Eds.), The origins of human behavior: Fear. New York: Wiley, 1974.
Rubenstein, J. R. Maternal attentiveness and subsequent exploratory behavior in the infant. Child Development, 1967, 38, 1089–1100.
Rubenstein, J. R., & Howes, C. Caregiving and infant behavior in day care and in homes. Developmental Psychology, 1979, 15, 1–24.
Rubenstein, J. R., Pedersen, F., & Yarrow, L. What happens when mother is away: A comparison of mothers and substitute caregivers. Developmental Psychology, 1977, 13, 529–530.
Schubert, J. B., Bradley-Johnson, S., & Nuttel, J. Mother-infant communication and maternal employment. Child Development, 1980, 51, 246–249.
Siegel, S. Nonparametric statistics for the behavioral sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1956.
Stevens, J. P. Power of the multivariate analysis of variance tests. Psychological Bulletin, 1980, 88, 728–737.
Suomi, S. J. Adult male-infant interactions among monkeys living in nuclear families. Child Development, 1977, 48, 1255–1270.
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Marital and family characteristics ofthe labor force. March 1979. Special Labor Force Reprint #237.
Yarrow, L. J., Rubenstein, J. L., & Pedersen, F. A. Infant and environment: Early cognitiveand motivational development. New York: Halsted Press, 1975.
Young, S. F. Paternal involvement as related to maternal employment and attachmentbehavior directed to the father by the one-year-old infant. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University , 1975.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1982 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pedersen, F.A., Cain, R.L., Zaslow, M.J., Anderson, B.J. (1982). Variation in Infant Experience Associated with Alternative Family Roles. In: Laosa, L.M., Sigel, I.E. (eds) Families as Learning Environments for Children. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4172-7_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-4172-7_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4684-4174-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4684-4172-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive