RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MOTHER S PATHOLOGICAL SYMPTOMS AND FORMATION OF ATTACHMENT AND SOCIO-BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN THEIR PRESCHOOL YEARS CHILDREN

To investigate the relationships between mother’s pathological symptoms andformation of attachment and socio-behavioral problems in their 4 years oldchildren, 176 mother-child pairs were randomly selected from a middle classcommunity in Tehran. Data were obtained from mothers, children and nurseryteachers by using following questionnaires: Beck Depression Inventory (BDI),Cattle Anxiety Scale, Security-Insecurity Inventory (S-I), The Adjustment Inventory- Adult form, Separation Anxiety Test (SAT), Preschool Children’s BehaviorChecklist -Teacher’s form (PBCL), Preschool Children’s Behavior Checklist -Parent’s form (BCL) and California Preschool Social Competency Scale. Analysisof results indicate that only level of insecurity feeling and anxiety of the motherscan significantly predict the attachment security of their children; i.e., childrenwhose mother had higher levels of insecurity feelings and anxiety, were moreprone to insecure attachment. It was also revealed that children, whose mothershad higher levels of insecurity fellings, showed more socio-behavioral problems.There was no significant relationship between mothers’ depression andmaladjustment with attachment patterns or socio-behavioral problems of theirpreschool children.