Separation protest in day-care and home-reared infants

Separation protest was measured by the onset and duration of fretting or crying in 24 day-care and 28 home-reared infants during a two-minute period of isolated separation from their mothers in an unfamiliar room. Separation episodes were repeated under similarly controlled circumstances at two-month intervals from 3 1/2 through 13 1/2 months and at 20 months of age. The composition of the day-care and home-reared groups was similar for sex, ordinal position, and family background. Day-care and home-reared infants showed similar patterns in the manifestation of separation protest over age, with sharp reductions in latency to crying and marked increases in the occurrence of crying at 9 1/2 and 13 1/2 months. These results suggest that the psychological processes underlying separation protest are not materially altered by the continuing presence of the young infant in a day-care program designed to meet both his physical and psychological requirements.