I get butterflies. A mother's emotional response to the relationship with her child : an investigation into the interactions that cause an emotive response

Abstract

The current research study asks the question “What is the mother’s emotional response to the relationship with her child?” The Oxford English Dictionary (2011) gives the definition of emotions as a strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. The word relationship, they define as the way in which two or more people or things are connected, or the state of being connected (Oxford University Press, 2011). Much of the existing research into the connection between mother and child (e.g. Schore, 2007; Balbernie, 2001; Seigal, 1999) focuses on the emotional influence the relationship has on the infant in the dyad. What of the mother’s response to her child? How does the infant affect her? Using the methods of a focus group and a case study, the current research dissertation addresses these questions. The study finds that a mother’s state is intensely influenced by interactions with her infant; that there are indeed a number of emotional patterns that the mother exhibits in response to her child. Author keywords: Relationship, attachment, mother, infant