Biomaterial Database

Understanding triadic and family group interactions during infancy and toddlerhood. 1999

J P McHale, and E Fivaz-Depeursinge

Department of Psychology, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts 01610, USA. jmchale@clarku.edu

This paper outlines recent conceptual and methodological developments in the assessment of triadic and family group process during infancy and toddlerhood. Foundations of the emerging family group process are identified, and conditions specific to the assessment of the family during the early phases of family formation are summarized. Both microanalytic and global approaches to evaluating mother-father-child interactions are discussed. We highlight both similarities and differences in the strategies and methods employed by several different investigators who have been studying the group dynamics of families with infant and toddler children, and underscore several important family patterns and emerging themes that appear to be cutting across these different methods and measurement strategies. Preliminary evidence for the validity and clinical significance of family-level assessments is summarized, and directions currently being pursued by researchers engaged in studies of the family triad are outlined. We close by identifying several conceptual and clinical issues that remain to be addressed by subsequent work.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D009034	Mother-Child Relations	Interaction between a mother and child.	Mother-Child Interaction,Mother-Child Relationship,Mother-Infant Interaction,Mother-Infant Relations,Interaction, Mother-Child,Interaction, Mother-Infant,Interactions, Mother-Child,Interactions, Mother-Infant,Mother Child Interaction,Mother Child Relations,Mother Child Relationship,Mother Infant Interaction,Mother Infant Relations,Mother-Child Interactions,Mother-Child Relation,Mother-Child Relationships,Mother-Infant Interactions,Mother-Infant Relation,Relation, Mother-Child,Relation, Mother-Infant,Relations, Mother-Child,Relations, Mother-Infant,Relationship, Mother-Child,Relationships, Mother-Child
D010552	Personality Assessment	The determination and evaluation of personality attributes by interviews, observations, tests, or scales. Articles concerning personality measurement are considered to be within scope of this term.	Assessment, Personality,Assessments, Personality,Personality Assessments
D002666	Psychology, Child	Branch of psychology involving the study of normal and abnormal behavior of children.	Child Psychology,Infant Psychology,Pediatric Psychology,Psychology, Infant,Psychology, Pediatric
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D005195	Family Relations	Behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family.	Family Relationship,Family Dynamics,Family Relationships,Dynamic, Family,Dynamics, Family,Family Dynamic,Family Relation,Relation, Family,Relations, Family,Relationship, Family,Relationships, Family
D005196	Family Therapy	A form of group psychotherapy. It involves treatment of more than one member of the family simultaneously in the same session.	Therapy, Family,Family Therapies,Therapies, Family
D005219	Father-Child Relations	Interaction between the father and the child.	Father-Child Relationship,Father Child Relations,Father Child Relationship,Father-Child Relation,Father-Child Relationships,Relation, Father-Child,Relations, Father-Child,Relationship, Father-Child,Relationships, Father-Child
D005260	Female		Females