Children's use of inanimate transitional objects in coping with hassles

Area of Science:

• Child Psychology
• Developmental Psychology

Background:

• Transitional objects are commonly used by children for comfort.
• Their role in coping with daily stressors is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between inanimate transitional object use and children's coping with daily hassles.
• To explore factors influencing object use and its effectiveness.

Main Methods:

• Mothers of 50 preschoolers rated children's hassle frequency, reaction intensity, coping effectiveness, and object use.
• Analysis included comparisons between object users and non-users, and examination of object type and age effects.

Main Results:

• No overall difference in hassles between children with and without objects.
• Older children used objects more frequently.
• Thumb users experienced fewer hassles than soft object users.
• Increased hassles correlated with more intense reactions, less effective coping, and greater object use.

Conclusions:

• Inanimate transitional objects, particularly thumbs, may aid preschoolers in managing daily hassles.
• Object use is associated with coping effectiveness and is influenced by age and hassle frequency.
• Further research into object nature and separation-individuation is warranted.