From Science Daily
Mother-Son Relationship Key to Emotional Development"Dr Fearon said: "The central question we posed was whether attachment insecurity was associated with behaviour problems across all the studies conducted to date. The results showed quite clearly that the answer to this question is a firm yes.
"More specifically, our analysis showed that children with insecure attachments to their mothers, particularly boys, had significantly more behavioural problems, even when the behavioural problems were measured years later."
The study also recommends the need for treatment studies focusing on attachment and for more research on the significance of attachment between children and their fathers.
Exploration in Toddlers Activated by FathersThe parent's behavior was measured by the distance they kept from their child as he or she climbed the stairs. "For a child to become self-confident, the parent mustn't be too far or too close," says Paquette. "The ideal distance seems to be an arm's length. This distance was statistically significant with fathers yet not with mothers."
According to Paquette, classical attachment theory doesn't highlight these differences between boys and girls. This is why he feels his theory is better adapted to evaluate the role of the father while factoring in the temperament of the child and the level of protective parenting, both of which trigger the activation relationship.
Paquette is convinced that mothers and fathers intervene differently in the education of a child and these complementarities benefit a child. "Even if both parents change diapers and give the bottle, they don't do it the same way," says Paquette (my emphasis). "By stimulating exploration, controlled risk-taking and competition, fathers provide something different to the child who will benefit greatly from this singular contribution."
I think we're on to something here on Opine.
Renee Aste
Lowell Massachsuetts
As a mother of 2 boys and 3 girls (yes, all planned and all from one marriage), I can attest to the difference in parenting between myself, as a woman, and my husband. I'm always inclined to be cautious, to protect and to minimize risk-taking. My husband is always encouraging the kids to be more adventuresome and to take some calculated risks. Though it means I do some nail-biting, in the end, we meet in the middle, to the benefit of the kids. They'd probably be too sheltered from acceptable risks if it were all up to me.
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