Twin Interactions in a Normal Nursery School
MARIA PALUSZNY M.D.1, and
RALPH GIBSON PH.D.2
1 Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Assistant Out-Patient Director, Children's Psychiatric Hospital
2 Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Mich. and Director, Pediatric-Psychology Unit, University of Michigan Medical Center
The authors studied ten sets of middle-class fraternal twins in an effort to determine what factors influenced the twinning relationship. They found that five sets of twins showed some form of mutual dependency and that two showed one-sided dependency; in each case mother-child dependency was excessive. Three pairs of twins showed minimal or no dependency. Each of these groups is illustrated with a case report. Follow-up of six sets of twins revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of neurotic problems that were not significantly related to dependency. The authors offer several possible explanations for this finding.
