Abstract
Thirty five middle class parents, pregnant for the first time, were recruited from childbirth classes for participation in a shortterm longitudinal study of parents' constructions of their infants' personalities during pregnancy and in early infancy. Here, we report qualitative findings about parents' descriptions of their infants' personalities before and after birth, as well as descriptions of their relationships with their infants and their first feelings of love for their infants. Descriptions of infant personalities were remarkably vivid before and after birth, but there were changes in the prominence of several attributes over time.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Zeanah CH, Anders TA: Subjectivity in parent-infant relationshps: a discussion of internal working models.Infant Mental Health Journal 8: 237–250, 1987.
Broussard ER, Hartner MS: Maternal perception of the neonate as related to development.Child Psychiatry and Human Development 1: 16–25, 1970.
Broussard ER: Neonatal prediction and outcome at 10/11 years.Child Psychiatry and Human Development 7: 85–93, 1976.
Palisin H: The neonatal perception inventory: failure to replicate.Child Development 51: 737–742, 1980.
Bates JE: The concept of difficult temperament.Merrill Palmer Quarterly 26: 299–319, 1980.
Lumley JM: Attitudes to the fetus among primigravidae.Austrialian Pediatric Journal 18: 106–109, 1982.
Zeanah CH, Keener MA, Stewart L, Anders TF: Prenatal perception of infant personality: a preliminary investigation,Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 24: 204–210, 1985.
Zeanah CH, Keener MA, Anders TF: Developing perceptions of temperament and their relation to mother and infant behavior,Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines 27: 499–512, 1986.
Carey WB, McDevitt SC: Revision of the infant temperament questionnaire.Pediatrics 61: 735–739, 1978.
Zeanah CH, Keener MA, Stewart L, Anders TF: Early perceptions of temperament.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 24: 503–505, 1985.
Carey WB, McDevitt SC: Use of the infant temperament questionnaire.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry 24: 501–503, 1985.
Zeanah CH, Keener MA, Anders TF: Adolescent mothers' prenatal fantasies and working models of their infants,Psychiatry 49: 193–203, 1986.
Mebert CJ, Kalinowsky MF: Parents' expectations and perceptions of infant temperament: “pregnancy status” differences.Infant Behavior and Development 9: 321–334, 1986.
Zeanah CH, Keener MA, Anders TF, Vieira-Baker C: Adolescent mothers' perceptions of their infants before and after birth,American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 57: 351–360, 1987.
Keener MA, Zeanah CH, Anders TF: Infant temperament, sleep maturation, and nighttime parental interventions.Pediatrics 81: 762–771, 1988.
Robson K: The role of eye to eye contact in maternal to infant attachment.Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 8: 13–25, 1967.
Robson K, Moss HA: Patterns and determinants of maternal attachment.Journal of Pediatrics 77: 976–985, 1970.
Robson K, Kumar R: Delayed onset of maternal affection after childbirth.British Journal of Psychiatry 136: 347–353, 1980.
MacFarlane A:The Psychology of Childbirth. London: Open Books, 1977.
Condon JT, Dunn DJ: Nature and determinats of parent-to-infant attachment in the early postnatal period.Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 27: 293–299, 1988.
Bretherton I, Ridgeway D:Attachment: the parental perspective. Paper presented to the International Conference on Infant Studies, Los Angeles, 1986.
Slade A and Aber JL:The internal experience of parenting toddlers: toward and analysis of individual and developmental differences. Paper presented to the International Conference on Infant Studies, Los Angeles, 1986.
Zeanah CH, Benoit D, Barton ML and Hirschberg L:Parents' representations of their infants: preliminary results using a structured interview. Paper presented to the International Conference on Infant Studies, Providence, RI, 1988.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Dr. Zeanah is supported in part by a Research Scientist Development Award from NIMH (MH 00691).
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zeanah, C.H., Zeanah, P.D. & Stewart, L.K. Parents' constructions of their infants' personalities before and after birth: A descriptive study. Child Psych Hum Dev 20, 191–206 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00710188
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00710188