Nurturing attitudes and behaviors among seven married couples, each of
which contained one partner who had manic-depressive illness, and their
young children were compared with those of normal control families. Mothers
from index families, in contrast to control mothers, were less attentive to
their children's health needs, emphasized performance in some
achievement-related areas, were more overprotective, and reported more
negative affect toward the child. They also were more disorganized, less
active with their children, and more unhappy, tense, and ineffective. Index
parents secured lower scores in the areas of family interaction and social
adjustment, and they experienced situational problems of considerable
severity, including clinical depression in the well parent.Abstract Teaser