Parental response to competence and trauma in infants with reproductive casualty.

This study of 31 infants in neonatal intensive care and their parents examined the relationship involving infant characteristics (medical and behavioral), parent characteristics (personality and stuational variables), and the development of parental attachment. As expected, infants who were more visually competent had mothers who were more attentive. Contrary to expectation, greater prematurity was related to greater parental involvement. There were important differences in maternal and paternal responses, with mothers using more denial to cope with the medical crisis. Parents who relied heavily on denial were found to have impaired attachment.