Patterns of Guilt in Children of Well and Depressed Mothers.

Autor/in	Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn
Titel	Patterns of Guilt in Children of Well and Depressed Mothers.
Quelle	(1989), (11 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Child Caregivers; Comparative Analysis; Depression (Psychology); Early Childhood Education; Early Experience; Elementary School Students; Emotional Development; Emotional Experience; Individual Development; Mothers; Parent Influence; Preschool Children; Toddlers + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Caregiver; Caregivers; Carer; Child; Children; Kinderbetreuung; Early childhood; Education; Frühkindliche Bildung; Frühpädagogik; Frühbeginn; Gefühlsbildung; Individuelle Entwicklung; Mother; Mutter; Pre-school age; Preschool age; Pre-school education; Preschool education; Vorschulalter; Kind; Kinder; Vorschulkind; Vorschulkinder; Vorschulerziehung; Vorschule; Infant; Infants; Toddler; Kleinkind
Abstract	Discussion explores the role of guilt in depression, arguing that "how children come to view themselves as pervasively responsible for bad things that happen" is a key element in the social transmission of affect that involves guilt. "Guilt" basically is an adaptive emotion that involves thoughts of remorse or responsibility for wrongdoing. While adaptive, it is susceptible to dysregulation. In fact, research indicates that some forms of depression may be transmitted socially from parent to child. One mechanism mediating the transmission plausibly might be the early learning of excessive guilt. Until recently, this was not a tenable surmise, because very young children were not believed to have well-internalized feelings of responsibility. Recent research, however, indicates that guilt develops in the second year of life, a time when children increase in their capacity to share with, sympathize with, help, and comfort victims in distress. Since young children exhibit difficulty in distinguishing between problems they cause and those they observe, it is possible that early forms of empathy and guilt may easily become confused. Such young children may be particularly vulnerable to feelings of responsibility for problems not of their own making, and to developing unrealistic guilt, especially if their causal role in distress events is over-emphasized by caregivers. Additional findings are discussed. (RH)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC