The case history of a happy child

The authors describe the emotional development of a girl whose behavior was assessed on the Brazelton Scale at various neonatal stages eight times over the 1st month of her life, examined by a psychologist at the age of 12 months, and seen in a family interview at 22 months. The child's Brazelton Scale scores are compared with mean scores obtained in a previous study of 44 subjects. A profile of the girl's inborn characteristics emerges, including average motor ability, high responsiveness to social (human) stimuli and body contact, and high ability to reduce tension caused by unpleasant stimuli. This inborn profile is reflected in the follow-up at the age of 12 and 22 months: the child is average in motor development, but well above average in social skills, including ability to initiate interaction and evoke physical closeness. The parents are seen as tolerant and warm, but undemonstrative, and the parent-child interaction demonstrates how the girl's inborn characteristics play a role in molding the parents' attitudes in a direction more responsive to the child's emotional needs and thus achieving a successful "biological fit." The authors point out that a dynamic diagnostic formulation needs to include the innate characteristics of the subject and that one should recognize the role of the innate characteristics in the transference.