Intrinsic and Extrinsic Factors Affect Infant Responses to Maternal Separation

Responses of individuals to the loss of a primary attachment object may be quite variable. In humans, it has been suggested that only about 25% of bereavements result in substantial psychological or medical morbidity (Hamburg et al. 1975). In nonhuman primates, which are used to model responses to s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychiatry (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 1994-02, Vol.57 (1), p.43-50
Main Authors: Boccia, Maria L., Laudenslager, Mark L., Reite, Martin L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal ethology
Animals
Animals, Newborn - psychology
Anxiety, Separation - immunology
Anxiety, Separation - psychology
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Infant
Macaca nemestrina
Macaca radiata
Mammalia
Monkeys & apes
Mother-Child Relations
Object Attachment
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Temperament
Vertebrata
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Summary:Responses of individuals to the loss of a primary attachment object may be quite variable. In humans, it has been suggested that only about 25% of bereavements result in substantial psychological or medical morbidity (Hamburg et al. 1975). In nonhuman primates, which are used to model responses to separation and loss, a similar estimate of about 25% has also been obtained (McKinney 1985). In addition, there are wide-ranging species differences in vulnerability with regard to the nature and severity of the response to maternal separation and/or loss. All of these findings suggest that there are important processes, intrinsic and/or extrinsic to the individual, that contribute to the probability that a loss will produce a major behavioral or physiological response. We have been systematically examining some of the factors that may account for a portion of this variability in two species of macaques (bonnet monkeys Macaca radiata; and pigtail monkeys, M. nemestrina).
ISSN:0033-2747
1943-281X
DOI:10.1080/00332747.1994.11024667