Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-07T17:31:40.663Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influences on Maternal Overprotection

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Gordon Parker  and
Penny Lipscombe
Gordon Parker
Affiliation:
University of New South Wales, Professorial Unit, P.O. Box 1, Rozelle, N.S.W. 2039, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

While maternal overprotection appears associated with several neurotic and psychotic disorders, little is known about determinants of such a parental characteristic. Several hypotheses have been tested in a large nonclinical sample. Maternal and cultural factors seemed of greater relevance than characteristics in the child. Overprotective mothers gave evidence of marked maternal preoccupations before having children, of showing a capacity to be overprotective after the active stage of mothering, and of having personality characteristics of high anxiety, obsessionality and a need to control. Maternal overprotection appears associated with low, rather than with high maternal care. This has important primary prevention and treatment implications.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 138 , Issue 4 , April 1981 , pp. 303 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1981 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J. J. & Tune, G. S. (1975) The Lynfield obsessional/ compulsive questionnaires. Scottish Medical Journal, 20, 21–24.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blatt, S. J. D'Afflitti, J. P. & Quinlan, D. M. (1975) Depressive Experiences Questionnaire. Obtainable from the authors, Yale University.Google Scholar
Blatt, S. J. Wein, S. J. Chevron, E. & Quinlan, D. M. (1979) Parental representations and depression in normal young adults. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88, 388–397.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G. W. Birley, J. L. T. & Wing, J. K. (1972) Influence of family life on the course of schizophrenic disorders: a replication. British Journal of Psychiatry, 121, 241–258.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costello, C. G. & Comrey, A. L. (1967) Scales for measuring depression and anxiety. The Journal of Psychology, 66, 303–313.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, A. & Rutter, M. (1976) Diagnostic appraisal and interviewing. I. Child Psychiatry: Modern Approaches, (eds. M. Rutter and L. Hersov). Oxford.Google Scholar
Friedman, M. & Rosenman, R. H. (1960) Overt behavior pattern in coronary disease. Detection of overt behavior pattern A in patients with coronary disease by a new psychophysiological procedure. Journal of the American Medical Association, 173, 1320–1325.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirsch, S. R. & Leff, J. P. (1975) Abnormalities in Parents of Schizophrenics: a Review of the Literature and an Investigation of Communication Defects and Devices. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Levy, D. M. (1943) Maternal Overprotection. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, M. & Rosenblum, L. A. (1974) The Effects of the Infant on its Caregiver. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Marks, I. & Mathews, A. (1979) Brief standard self-rating for phobic patients. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 17, 263–267.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. (1981) Parental reports of depressives: an investigation of several explanations. Journal of Affective Disorders, (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, G. & Lipscombe, P. (1979) Parental characteristics of Jews and Greeks in Australia. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 13, 225–229.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. Tupling, H. & Brown, L. B. (1979) A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roe, A. & Siegelman, M. (1963) A parent-child relations questionnaire. Child Development, 34, 359–369.Google ScholarPubMed
Rotter, J. B. (1966) Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monograph, 80, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M. (1975) Helping Troubled Children. Harmondsworth: Penguin.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1976) Other family influences. I. Child Psychiatry. Modern Approaches, (eds. M. Rutter and L. Hersov). Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. Tizard, J. & Hersov, V. (1970) (eds. Education, Health and Behaviour. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Schaefer, E. S. (1965) A configurational analysis of children's reports of parent behavior. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 29, 552–557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaughn, C. E. & Leff, J. P. (1976) The influence of family and social factors on the course of psychiatric illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129, 125–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.