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Temperament and the transitional object

N Haslam1

  • 1Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia 19104.

Child Psychiatry and Human Development
|January 1, 1992
PubMed

Insights

Temperament influences transitional object attachment in toddlers, but not oral habits. These attachments serve distinct developmental functions, independent of oral behaviors, suggesting temperament

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Child Psychology
  • Behavioral Science

Background:

  • Transitional object attachment and persistent oral habits are common in early childhood.
  • The relationship between infantile temperament, transitional object use, and oral habits requires further investigation.
  • Understanding these behaviors is crucial for assessing typical child development.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the relationship between infantile temperament and transitional object attachments in three-year-olds.
  • To investigate the connection between infantile temperament and persistent oral habits.
  • To determine if transitional object attachments and oral habits are independent phenomena.

Main Methods:

  • Study involved 37 three-year-old children.
  • Assessed transitional object attachments and persistent oral habits.
  • Examined infantile temperament retrospectively and current temperament.

Main Results:

  • Children with transitional object attachments differed in infantile temperament compared to those without.
  • Temperament patterns predicting transitional object attachment were distinct from those predicting oral habits.
  • Transitional object attachments and oral habits were found to be independent.

Conclusions:

  • Infantile temperament appears to play an etiological role in transitional object attachments.
  • Transitional object attachments serve distinct, non-pathological developmental functions.
  • The role of transitional objects as a developmental marker remains ambiguous.

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