Leave-Takings and Reunions of Infants, Toddlers, Preschoolers, and Their Parents

Abstract

The leave-taking and reunion behaviors of infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and their parents were observed as the children were "dropped off" and "picked up" at their nursery school each day. On arrival at their classroom, infants and toddlers related primarily to their parents, whereas preschoolers related to their teachers. Girls more frequently engaged in interaction with their teachers, and boys more frequently approached the children's play activities. Distress behaviors during the parents' departures were most frequently shown by toddlers, and the toddlers' parents hovered about them and " sneaked out of the room" more frequently. Children dropped off by mothers versus fathers showed more attention-getting behavior and crying, and mothers versus fathers engaged in more "distracting-the-child" behaviors and showed a longer latency to leave the classroom. During the second semester of observations parents and children spent less time relating to each other during leave-taking, children protested the departures less frequently, and the parents left the classroom more quickly. Regression analyses on distress behaviors during leave- takings and ambivalent behavior during reunions suggested that parent behaviors such as verbal explanation, distracting the child, latency to leave, and " sneaking out of the room" were correlated with children's distress and leave-taking distress was related to ambivalent behavior at reunion.

Prevalence of father-child rough-and-tumble play and physical aggression in preschool children

“…Several studies have shown that parents even tend to preserve their typical paternal or maternal style of play (physical vs. pretend), independently of social and family conditions (Field, 1978;Field, Gewirtz, Cohen, Garcia, Greenberg, & Collins, 1984;Hossain & Roopnarine, 1994;Stuckey, McGhee, & Bell, 1982). More studies should be conducted, on the one hand to verify this hypothesis, and on the other to verify if characteristics regarding the parents' personal history may influence RTP frequency.…”

Theorizing the Father-Child Relationship: Mechanisms and Developmental Outcomes

“…Fathers who are more involved in caregiving and mothers who have paid employment do not alter their typical paternal or maternal styles of play [Field, 1978;Stuckey, McGhee & Bell, 1982]. Field et al [1984] have shown that while working mothers play more with their infants than fathers, they tend to engage in face-to-face play. Hossain and Roopnarine [1994] have shown that African-American fathers spend more time playing with than caring for their children despite an equitable division of caregiving responsibilities.…”

Young children in day and night care: negotiating and constructing belonging during daily arrivals

“…Only a few studies have addressed this topic. In one of the earliest of these, Field et al (1984) observed the leave-taking and reunion behaviours of 3-to 69-month-old children and their parents at a nursery school. The differences in the children's and parent's behaviours were found to be dependent on the child's age, gender and duration of time in school as well as the parent's gender.…”