Abstract
871 participants, 375 boys and 496 girls, mean age 16.7 + 1, were administered the Parental Bonding Instrument (P.B.I.), the Brief Symptom Inventory (B.S.I.), the General Well-Being Questionnaire (G.W.B.) and the Chestnut Lodge Transitional Object Scale. Results supported Winnicott's theory: participants reporting attachment to a Transitional Object (T.O.) in their childhood reported significantly more optimal maternal bonding than participants who were not attached to a T.O. Participants reporting attachment to a T.O. in adolescence had significantly more psychiatric symptoms and less general well-being. Adolescence T.O. attachment might be considered a marker of mental distress in the general, normal population.
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Bachar, E., Canetti, L., Galilee-Weisstub, E. et al. Childhood vs. Adolescence Transitional Object Attachment, and Its Relation to Mental Health and Parental Bonding. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 28, 149–167 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022881726177
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1022881726177