Biomaterial Database

Infant-mother attachment among the Dogon of Mali. 2001

M M True, and L Pisani, and F Oumar

Department of Psychology, Saint Mary's College of California, Moraga 94575, USA. mtrue@stmarys-ca.edu

This study of mothers and infants from the Dogon ethnic group of Mali, West Africa examined three attachment hypotheses: (1) that infant attachment security is linked to the quality of mother-infant communication, (2) that mothers of secure infants respond more sensitively to their infants than do mothers of insecure infants, and (3) that infant disorganization is linked to maternal frightened or frightening behaviors. Participants were 27 mother-infant pairs from a rural town and 15 mother-infant pairs from two agrarian villages; infants ranged in age from 10 to 12.5 months at the first assessment. The distribution of the Strange Situation classifications was 67% secure, 0% avoidant, 8% resistant, and 25% disorganized. Infant attachment security was significantly related to the quality of mother-infant communication as observed in a well-infant exam. The correlation between infant attachment security ratings and maternal sensitivity (assessed in the home) was modest and approached significance. Mothers of disorganized infants had significantly higher ratings of frightened or frightening behaviors. Maternal sensitivity predicted little of the variance in infant security; however, the addition of the frightened/frightening variable in the regression equation tripled the explained variance. The findings are discussed in light of Dogon childrearing practices and key tenets of attachment theory.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007223	Infant	A child between 1 and 23 months of age.	Infants
D008297	Male		Males
D008302	Mali	A country in western Africa, east of MAURITANIA and south of ALGERIA. Its capital is Bamako. From 1904-1920 it was known as Upper Senegal-Niger; prior to 1958, as French Sudan; 1958-1960 as the Sudanese Republic and 1959-1960 it joined Senegal in the Mali Federation. It became an independent republic in 1960.	Republic of Mali
D008425	Maternal Behavior	The behavior patterns associated with or characteristic of a mother.	Maternal Patterns of Care,Maternal Care Patterns,Behavior, Maternal,Behaviors, Maternal,Care Pattern, Maternal,Care Patterns, Maternal,Maternal Behaviors,Maternal Care Pattern,Pattern, Maternal Care,Patterns, Maternal Care
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
D009769	Object Attachment	Emotional attachment to someone or something in the environment.	Bonding (Psychology),Bonds, Emotional,Emotional Bonds,Object Relations,Symbiotic Relations (Psychology),Bonding, Psychological,Object Relationship,Psychological Bonding,Attachment, Object,Attachments, Object,Bond, Emotional,Bondings (Psychology),Emotional Bond,Object Attachments,Object Relation,Object Relationships,Relation, Object,Relation, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relations, Object,Relations, Symbiotic (Psychology),Relationship, Object,Relationships, Object,Symbiotic Relation (Psychology)
D003431	Cross-Cultural Comparison	Comparison of various psychological, sociological, or cultural factors in order to assess the similarities or diversities occurring in two or more different cultures or societies.	Transcultural Studies,Comparison, Cross-Cultural,Comparisons, Cross-Cultural,Cross Cultural Comparison,Cross-Cultural Comparisons,Studies, Transcultural,Study, Transcultural,Transcultural Study
D003466	Cultural Characteristics	Those aspects or characteristics which identify a culture.	Ethnic Boundary Maintenance,Boundary Maintenance, Ethnic,Boundary Maintenances, Ethnic,Characteristic, Cultural,Characteristics, Cultural,Cultural Characteristic,Ethnic Boundary Maintenances,Maintenance, Ethnic Boundary,Maintenances, Ethnic Boundary
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man