Resumen

OLHABERRY, Marcia  y  SANTELICES ALVAREZ, María Pía. Father's Presence and the Quality of Mother-Child Interaction: A Comparative Study on Chilean Nuclear and Single-Mother Families. Univ. Psychol. [online]. 2013, vol.12, n.3, pp.833-843. ISSN 1657-9267.

Recent studies show the importance of the father's presence on the family's mental health, affecting, among others, on the mother-child bond. Considering this information, the present study does a comparative analysis of the quality of mother-child interaction on dyads of nuclear and single-mother, Chilean, low-income families. 80 Dyads were studied, 40 belonging to single-mother families and 40 to nuclear families. The children's ages were between 4 and 17 months (M = 12.36, SD = 3.2) and the mothers between 15 and 44 years old (M = 26.74, SD = 7.53). The mother's sensitivity answer and the quality of the interaction were evaluated with the CARE-Index (Crittenden, 1997) instrument. The results show a greater interaction quality among nuclear families, with important differences and medium effect sizes on the cognitive aspects of the interaction.

Palabras clave : Single-Mother Families; Nuclear Families; Interaction Quality; Development Psychology; Linking Theory; Affective Theory.

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