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Purpose: This study is the first to directly investigate the mechanistic role of maternal bonding toward her infant in the early intergenerational pathway of risk from maternal anxiety to infant fearfulness. Methods: Mothers (N = 216; Mage=32.78) reported on their anxiety and bonding at four time-points between pregnancy and ten-months postpartum. At four and ten-months postpartum, infant temperamental precursors of anxiety were assessed through maternal report and observation. Results: Cross-lagged longitudinal path modeling indicated a significant link between prenatal maternal anxiety and infant temperamental fearful withdrawal at 10-months postpartum (R2 = 0.117), which was fully explained by decreased maternal bonding at one-month postpartum and increased infant temperamental negative reactivity at 4-months postpartum. Conclusion: Results support the need to foster maternal bonding in preventive perinatal care, particularly in the context of maternal anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Motherhood and maintaining the child-parent relationship are top priorities for mothers with breast cancer (BC). The current study aimed to assess the positive intra- and inter-personal resources related to positive parenting among mothers with BC, as these may be promotive factors for positive parenting. Specifically, we examined whether social support (family, friend, spiritual), emotion regulation, and a sense of meaning in life are related to positive parenting among mothers undergoing BC treatments. Methods: The sample consisted of 100 Israeli mothers (mean age = 46.02 years, SD = 6.06 years) who were undergoing treatment for BC. Participating mothers had at least one child aged 6–17 years. Participants were recruited via closed social media groups to complete a questionnaire containing: the Alabama Parenting Questionnaire, Cancer Perceived Agents of Social Support tool, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Meaning in Life Questionnaire, European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30), and sociodemographic and clinical questions. We used structural equation modeling to regress the study variables on positive parenting. Results: Friend support (β =.35, p =.009) and meaning in life (β =.30, p =.012) were significantly related to positive parenting. Family support, spiritual support, cognitive reappraisal, and the sociodemographic and clinical variables were not related to positive parenting. Conclusions: Our study suggests that promoting meaning in life and friend support may be key to helping mothers to sustain positive parenting behaviors throughout their cancer treatment. Future research may examine whether psychosocial interventions which foster meaning in life and friend support impact positive parenting among mothers with BC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many claim a high prevalence of single motherhood plays a significant role in America's high child poverty. Using the Luxembourg Income Study, we compare the "prevalences and penalties" for child poverty across 30 rich democracies and within the United States over time (1979–2019). Several descriptive patterns contradict the importance of single motherhood. The U.S. prevalence of single motherhood is cross-nationally moderate and typical and is historically stable. Also, child poverty and the prevalence of single motherhood have trended in opposite directions in recent decades in the United States. More important than the prevalence of single motherhood, the United States stands out for having the highest penalty across 30 rich democracies. Counterfactual simulations demonstrate that reducing single motherhood would not substantially reduce child poverty. Even if there was zero single motherhood, (1) the United States would not change from having the fourth-highest child poverty rate, (2) the 41-year trend in child poverty would be very similar, and (3) the extreme racial inequalities in child poverty would not decline. Rather than the prevalence of single motherhood, the high penalty for single motherhood and extremely high Black and Latino child poverty rates, which exist regardless of single motherhood, are far more important to America's high child poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an initial effort to develop disordered eating pathology (DEP) prevention program with an emphasis on maternal involvement. Disordered eating pathology representing a range of behaviors and attitudes, from negative body image to full-blown eating disorder. It appears mainly in adolescent females and related to psychological and familial factors, including maternal modeling of thinness. A sample of 118 Israeli girls (11–12) was divided into three groups: participants in the program in parallel with their mothers, participants without their mothers, and control. Participants completed self-report questionnaires. Groups were tested three times: pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up. For those girls who participated in parallel with their mothers, higher self-esteem was associated with fewer pathological diet behaviors. Findings deepen understanding of the risk factors involved in the development of DEP. The main study contribution is the important role mothers play in preventing DEP among their daughters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Lone-mother–headed families are key targets of poverty research and financial coaching training programs worldwide. Yet, despite the centrality of this population in poverty studies, there is little research on how this population construes the meaning of money in developed economies. This article focuses on the social construction of money among low-income lone mothers in Israel—a highly market-oriented, neoliberal economy. Based on a qualitative analysis, the study found five main representations of money: survival money, motherhood money, earned money, coping money, and resistance to dominant views of money. Our findings confirm the notion that money exists outside the sphere of the market and has contextualized meanings reflecting gender as well as cultural and social structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how women, as mothers, acquired international influence within British and North American Quakerism between 1650 and 1775. It has been well established that Quakerism disrupted traditional domestic hierarchies, but less is known about the ways in which maternity provided agency for female Quakers in their everyday lives. This article focuses on the labors and experiences of women who did not undertake transatlantic travel, whose lives were primarily centered around raising their children and supporting the Quaker community. It shows how the evolving Religious Society of Friends enhanced the status of mothers in important ways, enabling women's "reproductive labor" to be the subject of veneration and recognition. Using the journals and writings of traveling ministers, as well as correspondence exchanged between ministers, their hosts, and other members of the Society of Friends, it shows how women's domestic roles provided a vital function for the transatlantic Quaker community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The low participation of nonresident fathers in family- and child-oriented social work interventions is well documented, as are the adverse effects of their absence on the outcomes of these interventions and the welfare of their families. However, research on the reasons for this low participation tends to focus on the views and perceptions of social workers and fathers. We propose a systemic approach focusing on families rather than fathers, and institutional aspects of the welfare system, such as workplace culture and administrative barriers, rather than social workers' views. Using an institutional ethnography in six Israeli Departments of Social Services, we examined work procedures and routines with regard to separated families in Israel's social welfare and child protection system. Our findings show that social workers often fail to include nonresident fathers in their interventions with separated families. Using the theoretical framework of the mother-based intervention, we show how the organisation of services promotes a focus on mothers. These findings, we claim, have dire consequences for both fathers and mothers. Fathers are denied the opportunity to take an equal part in the lives of their children, while mothers are expected to bear the entire burden of the intervention's requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Early work reentry among postpartum mothers may negatively impact mothers' mental and physical health and adversely impact telomere length. Understanding the challenges mothers face upon work reentry postpartum may aid in developing policies and programs that support mothers and their families' well-being and help them achieve a better work-life balance. Objective: Transitioning to motherhood can create work family conflicts affecting mothers' health. Although employment is generally associated with longer telomeres, this may diminish during the early years of child-rearing. This study aimed to assess the impact of work reentry on telomere length (TL) among first-time mothers. Methods: In this 1-year prospective study, a total of 103 first-time postpartum mothers participated from two medical institutions in Northern Israel; they completed validated questionnaires, reported their current working status, and provided dried blood spots measuring TL. Results: We found that working status significantly predicted change in TL and was negatively correlated with change in TL over time (β = −0.245; 95% confidence interval, −0.169, −0.018; P = 0.016). Conclusions: Identifying ideal timing of work reentry is recommended for first-time postpartum mother's optimal health and TL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines how nationalism shapes perceptions of childhood and defines the role of children in a national struggle, and the challenges of implementing these perceptions during wartime, while explores the evacuation of children during the Israeli War of Independence (1948) as a case study. While nationalism played a central role in shaping the society's perceptions of children's roles, practical constraints and other perceptions exerted a significant influence. While the leadership opposed evacuation, the question of whether the presence of children on frontline settlements strengthened or weakened their fight was disputed among their members. Mothers both wanted their children with them to boost morale and wished them to be safe far away. Some accepted that they could play a vital role, others supported their evacuation so they could play their own part without hindrance. These dilemmas were compounded by the fact that children served as emotional and mental supports for both the family and the collective. The trauma of the Holocaust heightened this aspect of the double bind. The tension between child welfare vs. national goals often led to last-minute decisions. Children were thus more often evacuated under live fire rather than in the pre-planned, organized fashion characteristic of the 2WW Blitz in Britain. Despite the national principles aligning children with the well-being of the nation, their application during wartime proved intricate and contingent upon specific circumstances and the immediate danger faced by children. The harsh reality highlights the modern concept of childhood and the traditional concept of motherhood. It concludes that a child's role in national warfare is characterized by both conceptual complexity and practical flexibility. Especially in a traditional and national society striving for modernity as Israeli society. Furthermore, even in an existential war, national indoctrination can encounter limitations in its power and influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harm caused by child sexual abuse (CSA) is well-documented, calling for more awareness and efforts at prevention. However, CSA in closed religious societies is still tightly under wraps, and therefore underreported and understudied. We chose to use the mother's point of view, in order get an estimate of the prevalence, the reporting rates and their psychological wellbeing. The current study aims at addressing this in the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community, an insular religious one, which may thus serve as a test case for understanding other closed, religious communities. Three hundred forty-seven ultra-Orthodox Israeli women completed self-report questionnaires and reported on their, or their children's exposure to CSA sexual abuse, about their emotional coping, and about considerations regarding disclosing the abuse. About 24% the participants reported that they were victims of sexual abuse. Only 24.3% of cases were reported to the police or official welfare services, with cultural reasons offered by the women to explain it. Lower psychological wellbeing was found among mothers who themselves or their children were victims of child sexual abuse, compared to controls. Interestingly, mothers who reported having undergone psychological treatment suffered a higher degree of distress than those who had not. These findings contribute to the understanding of the dynamics of sexual abuse exposure and disclosure in the ultraorthodox community, and in close societies and highlight the changes required to improve safeguarding of children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the associations between mothers' predisposition to show rejection sensitivity and children's cognitions regarding peer rejection and their social self-perceptions. It also explored whether these associations were mediated by mothers' behaviors in situations that might suggest their children were rejected by peers. Participants were 122 Jewish Israeli mothers and their kindergarten children (50.82% female; M Child age in months = 67.52, SD = 6.35). Mothers completed the Adult Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire and reported their likely behaviors in scenarios suggesting the rejection of their children by peers. Children were interviewed using the response evaluation scale for the rejection stories in the Social Information Processing Interview–Preschool Version and the peer acceptance subscale of the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children. Results revealed indirect links between mothers' rejection sensitivity and children's maladaptive response evaluations and lower social self-perceptions, through fewer supportive maternal behaviors. These findings highlight the need to consider parents' dispositions and behaviors in the context of their children's peer interactions for a more complete understanding of the development of children's social competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe mothers' knowledge of infant fever management after birth and six months later and its association with sociodemographic characteristics, perceived support, sources of consultation and health education; and to assess determinants of change in mother's knowledge from birth to six months. Methods: Mothers (n = 2804) answered a self-reporting questionnaire after giving birth in maternity wards in six hospitals in Israel; six months later follow- up interviews were conducted by telephone. Results: The mothers' knowledge level of infant fever management was low after birth (mean = 50.5, range 0–100, SD = 16.1), and rose to a moderate level six months later (mean = 65.2, SD = 15.0). Mothers having their first born, with lower household income or education were less knowledgeable about infant fever management after birth. However, these mothers showed the largest improvement after six months. Mothers' perceived support or sources of consultation and health education (partner, family, friends, nurses, and physicians) were not associated with their knowledge at either time. Moreover, mothers stated self-learning from internet and other media as often as receiving health education by health professionals. Conclusions for Practice: Public health policy for health professionals in hospitals and community clinics is essential to promote clinical interventions promoting mothers' knowledge of infant fever management. Efforts should focus at first time mothers, those with non-academic education, and those with a moderate or low household income. Public health policy enhancing communication with mothers regarding fever management in hospitals and community health settings, as well as accessible means of self-learning is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to focus on a niche that has not yet been investigated in infants' gesture studies that is the effect of the prior context of one specific gestural behavior (gives) on maternal behavior. For this purpose, we recruited 23 infants at 11 and 13 months of age yielded 246 giving gesture bouts that were performed in three contexts: typical when the object was offered immediately, contingent on exploration, and contingent on play. The analysis revealed that maternal responses to infants' giving gestures varied and were affected by their age and gesture context. Hence, mothers amended their responses according to the background that generated each gesture. The number of verbal responses to infants' giving gestures decreased as the infants aged, whereas the number of pretense responses increased. For infants aged 11 months, mothers generally provided motor responses to typical gestures. However, for infants aged 13 months, this trend declined and was replaced by a strong positive correlation between giving gestures contingent on play and verbal responses. We concluded that the type of activity with objects prior to employing giving gestures could enhance infants' symbolic skills because caregivers monitor the contingent act that yields the gesture that shapes their response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Families of single mothers by choice are the fastest growing "new family" type in Israel today. Solo mothers, or single mothers by choice as they are called, bring their children into the world without a partner from the start, even before conception. The number of Israeli solo mothers has doubled over the past decade. They are mostly Jewish and from various socioeconomic levels. Despite their growing numbers and visibility in Israel, they have attracted little academic attention. The article is based on thirty-six semi-structured interviews and a follow-up in social media. As a solo mother myself, and a sociologist, I analyze some of the findings and my own experiences. I shall explore in this article the sociological aspects of solo motherhood as a conformist challenge to Israeli gender ideology. Solo mothers comply with almost everything Israeli society expects of women, but on their own terms. They use existing repertoires and adjust them to their needs. Solo motherhood enables single women to conform to the Israeli norms of femininity: procreation and motherhood. In the process, they develop shared practices and language and a family narrative that provides another model of family, as they are often required to explain their status simply because most systems are organized around two parent families. Thus, they may find themselves accounting for their choices, primarily to themselves, but also to their environment. In the process, they revise gendered conventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores how two asylum-seeking women from Eritrea attempt to secure safety and legal status for their children – born and unborn – and themselves by leaving them behind in the settler colonial state of Israel and taking on forged Ethiopian Israeli identities to travel to the UK to facilitate a process of family reunification. Situating the Israeli asylum regime in the settler colonial state and drawing on multi-sited ethnographic research collected between 2016–2018 in Israel and the UK, the article argues that by engaging in acts of refusing militarised border regimes, migration enforcement, and their racialised orderings, the women shape a future for themselves and their children. The article then sheds light on the women's experience of waiting while faced with protracted uncertainty and separation from their children. It also analyses how gendered and racialised legal precarity and motherhood are experienced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal sensitivity and disrupted communication are usually considered independently as antecedents of attachment security and attachment disorganization, respectively. This study examined whether considering them jointly allows specific predictions of attachment classifications. The sample (N = 159) was selected from a previous study conducted in Israel between 1991–1993, and over-represented disorganized and ambivalent attachment. Attachment was assessed at 12 months in the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), sensitivity was assessed from free-play observations at 6 and 12 months, and disrupted communication was coded from the SSP. As hypothesized, high sensitivity and low disruption predicted secure attachment; low sensitivity and high disruption predicted disorganized-insecure attachment or ambivalent attachment; and high sensitivity and high disruption predicted disorganized-secure attachment. Low sensitivity and low disrupted communication did not predict avoidant attachment. The results show that combining maternal sensitivity and disrupted communication improves the precision in identifying maternal antecedents of attachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anna Margolin's innovative poetry has attracted the attention and admiration of Yiddish cultural research centers and literary critics worldwide. However, Rosa Lebensbaum—the real woman behind this pseudonym—has remained hidden for many years under the shadow of her well-known public figure. A family archive, carefully preserved by Rosa Lebensbaum's granddaughter in Israel, now allows the attention to be turned from Anna to Rosa. Private correspondence between Lebensbaum and her family—her divorcé, author Moshe Stavsky, and their son—reveals contradictions and understandings that illuminate new aspects in the poet's writing, as well as in her life and the lives of those around her. Based on this newly presented personal material, this article explores two aspects in the context of the life and writing of Rosa Lebensbaum; the first is personal while the other is cultural-historical. There was, on the one hand, a national, social, and creative renewal inspired by the Zionist movement, encouraging Jews to return to the land of Israel and the Hebrew language; yet, on the other hand, an American Jewish attempt to preserve and maintain the Yiddish culture, the language of exile against which the Jewish Yishuv in pre-state Israel fought vigorously. This clash of culture and languages—its implications and the price that many Jews were required to pay in pre-state Israel and America—form an additional central topic in this research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transition to motherhood is a challenging period that entails not only multiple stresses, but also the potential for personal growth. This study examined mothers' personal growth up to two years following the birth of their first child, investigating the contribution of the child's perceived characteristics and three sources of perceived support, as well as the possibility that the connection between support and personal growth is mediated by perception of the infant. Israeli mothers (n = 511) completed self-report questionnaires. Positive associations were found between higher perception of the infant as warm, lower perception of the infant as invasive, and higher perceived support from all sources. Moreover, path analysis revealed that higher perceived support from family and a significant other was associated with higher perception of the infant as warm, which in turn was related to higher personal growth. The findings highlight both the direct value of support from various sources and its ability to promote a more positive perception of the child, along with the role of new mothers' perception of their infant in facilitating the experience of personal growth. Practitioners should therefore pay attention both to mothers' assets and to risk factors for a negative interpretation of the child's behavior. Highlights: We examined the contribution of perceived child's characteristics and support to mothers' personal growth following the birth of their first child. Higher perceived support from family and a significant other was related to higher perception of the infant as warm, which in turn was related to higher personal growth. The study highlights the direct value of support from various sources and its ability to promote a more positive perception of the child. It indicates the role of new mothers' perception of their infant in facilitating the experience of personal growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parental mobile device use while parenting has been associated with reduced parental responsiveness and increased negative affect among children, However, it remains unclear whether it can interfere with the process of acquiring social communication skills. Thus, this study sought to experimental]y examine whether maternal mobile phone use while interacting with the child has an immediate effect on the frequency of mothers' and infants' joint attention (JA) behaviors, the likelihood that these behaviors will lead to JA episodes, and the duration of established JA episodes. Participants were a community sample of 114 (Mage = 11.36 months; 50% male) Israeli typically developing infants, in which most mothers were highly educated and living in two-parent families. Mother-infant dyads completed a modified stillface paradigm and were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions during the still-face phase: (a) mobile phone disruptions. (b) social disruptions, and (c) undisrupted play. Mother-infant interactions were coded for frequency of JA behaviors and duration of JA episodes. In dyads assigned to the mobile phone disruptions condition, infants produced more JA initiations, mothers were less likely to contingently respond to infant initiations, JA behaviors were less likely to result in established JA, and JA episodes were shorter compared to dyads in the two control conditions and the baseline free play phase. Findings suggest that maternal mobile phone use during face-to-face interactions with the infant can disrupt the process of establishing JA in ongoing mother-child interactions. Possible iniplications from this line of work for family digital media use are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixty-nine children (20 with cerebral palsy (CP)) and their mothers participated in a joint writing activity. Children (M age = 64.56 months; SD = 7.07 months) wrote a four-item grocery list on a keyboard at home with their mothers. Mothers who had children with CP generally provided a lower level of graphophonemic (i.e., segmenting words into their respective sounds) and print support (i.e., identifying letters to type) when compared to mothers of children with typical development. They were also less likely to be playful and correct their children's writing errors, although they spent more time on the activity overall and entered into their children's physical space more frequently. Even when children's spelling skills were considered, mothers of children with CP provided lower levels of support to their children, suggesting that mothers might be missing opportunities to maximise what children with CP can learn during joint writing activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article contributes to the theoretical discussion of the historical legitimacy of single mothers by examining the construction of relationships between single motherhood and welfare policy. Specifically, the study analyses the changing discourse regarding single mothers, and the social policy designed for them, in the US, UK and Israel from the 1970s to the 2000s. These three countries are similar in terms of the embeddedness, extension and institutionalization of neoliberal ideology in their welfare policies and public discourse, together with welfare legislation affecting single mothers, yet they differ in terms of policy implementation and the history of policy development. The study examines institutional intersectionality along with cultural perceptions of single mothers in each country. Looking at both the development and the withdrawal of social rights over time, we deepen understanding of how the image of the single mother is created in the neoliberal welfare regime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The surrogacy phenomenon has existed since ancient biblical times in which the barren Sarrai offers her maid Hagar to her husband Abraham to have a child with her. This relationship formed between Hagar and Sarrai, created conflicts that exist to this day. This article was written as part of the doctoral thesis, and aims to present the nature of the relationship that exists between the Israeli intended mothers and the Israeli surrogates, the intended mothers who have chosen to apply for surrogacy outside the country's borders, and examine the relationship between the surrogates who were all Israelis to the Israeli intend mothers. The subject was explored in sociological aspects, according to Symbolic interaction Theory, which is a sociological theory that was presented to the American sociology by George Herbert Mead at the 1920s. The method that was approach is the qualitative method. The present study comprised of 70 women residing in Israel. The women's ages ranged between 22 and 64 (M = 36.59, SD = 8.53). The women were sampled from two different groups. The first group comprised of 34 intended mothers who underwent a surrogacy process (41.4%). The second group comprised of 36 surrogate mothers who have undergone a pregnancy for other couples (51.4%). Analysis of the content done on the data collected from the interviews revealed two main themes - Emotions and Values involved in the interaction between the intended mother's and the surrogate. This study opens the door to a variety of emotions and values that involve and guide the interaction between the two groups of mothers and allows a rare glimpse into the depths of the souls of women who are unable to have a child and women who are willing to fulfill another woman's dream and, thus, sometimes, their altruistic aspirations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on women who define themselves as being undecided about becoming mothers. It addresses the question of how these women navigate their lives between two main conflicting cultural directives and perceptions: pronatalism and familism entwined in perception of linear time on one hand; and individualism and its counterpart, the notion of flexible liquid society, on the other. The research is based on group meetings designated for these women, which were facilitated by the first author. Ten women participated in the study—of whom, most were heterosexual, half were single, and half were partnered. Data were collected using (1) questionnaires completed during individual interviews that preceded the group encounter; (2) transcripts of the discussions held during the ten group sessions; and (3) questions regarding the status of the women's doubts about motherhood asked 4 years after participating in the group. Our findings expand the existing typology of women's reproductive decision-making, and demonstrate how categories that are commonly perceived as binary intersect when one challenges the rigid classifications of "active decisions" and "passive decisions"; "motherhood" and "non-motherhood," and "want to be a mother" and "do not want to be a mother." The findings also suggest that after becoming mothers, women can change their maternal status from "non-mother" to "mother," yet still continue to view themselves as indecisive regarding motherhood. Based on our findings, we will argue that while indecisiveness about motherhood derives from individualized neoliberal rhetoric, it simultaneously undermines that same rhetoric and contradicts the injunction to "know, to decide, to strive." It opposes the expectation in post-feminist discourse, that women will make choices about their bodies and exert them, while also opposing the pronatalist rhetoric, and the temporal linear discourse positing that women should "move forward" toward motherhood along with the ticking of the "biological clock." Whereas some women sought to resolve their indecisiveness, other women found that the indecisiveness leaves all options open in a manner that expands their boundaries of autonomy in a society that seeks to limit it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the experience of Palestinian mothers in Israel participating in a non-mandatory welfare-to-work program. The goal is to explore the perceptions of these women and their trainers about the ways the program helps enhance the mothers' social capital. The study is based on in-depth interviews of 30 mothers and three trainers who participated in the program. The findings expose a range of mothers' voices. The three main ones are: encouraging empowerment more than Work First; encouraging 'maternal' jobs; and encouraging partnership and group cohesion. The combined voices of participants and trainers deepen the significance of these findings, as the latter play a meaningful role in enhancing the social capital and networking capabilities of the former, who suffer from multiple sources of exclusion, including a vulnerable ethno-national status, poverty, low income and gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The outbreak of COVID-19 is affecting the lives of millions of families around the world. The current study was carried out in Israel, following the pandemic's initial outbreak and during the resulting enforced quarantine, confining parents and children to their homes. A sample of 141 Israeli mothers with at least one child between the ages of 3 and 12 (M = 6.92, SD = 2.55) participated as volunteers. About half the sample (50.7%) consisted of girls. Most mothers were cohabiting with a spouse (93%). Mothers completed online questionnaires about their perceptions about the health and economic threats of COVID-19, availability of social support, their anxiety symptoms, hostile/coercive and supportive/engaged parenting behavior, and their children's behavior problems. Results showed expected significant associations between the mothers' reports about having little social support, their anxiety symptoms, hostile/coercive and supportive/engaged parenting behavior, and children's externalizing problems. Likewise, expected significant associations were found between mothers' perceptions about the health and economic threats of COVID-19, their anxiety symptoms, hostile/coercive parenting behavior, and children's internalizing and externalizing problems. Importantly, maternal anxiety and hostile/coercive parenting behavior mediated the associations between lack of support, negative perceptions about the health and economic threats of COVID-19, and children's behavior problems. These findings stress the importance of mothers' mental health and parenting behaviors for children's socioemotional adaptation in the context of COVID-19. Implications of the findings for family interventions intended to help parents and children at this time are suggested. Highlights: Maternal anxiety mediates the associations between COVID-19's contextual features and children's behavior problems. Hostile/coercive parenting behavior mediates the associations between COVID-19's contextual features and children's behavior problems. Mothers' mental health and parenting are crucial for children's socioemotional adaptation in the context of COVID-19. Social distancing policies may lead to lack of social support, which is a risk for mothers' anxiety and parenting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oocyte cryopreservation (i.e., egg freezing) is one of the newest forms of assisted reproduction and is increasingly being used primarily by two groups of women: (1) young cancer patients at risk of losing their fertility through cytotoxic chemotherapy (i.e., medical egg freezing); and (2) single professionals in their late 30s who are facing age‐related fertility decline in the absence of reproductive partners (i.e., elective egg freezing). Based on a binational ethnographic study, this article examines the significance of egg freezing among Jewish women in Israel and the United States. As they face the Jewish maternal imperative, these women are turning to egg freezing to relieve both medical and marital uncertainties. In both secular and religious Jewish contexts, egg freezing is now becoming naturalized as acceptable and desirable precisely because it cryopreserves Jewish motherhood, keeping reproductive options open for Jewish women, and serving as a protective self‐preservation technology within their pronatalist social environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: In view of the heightened stress that might accompany a woman's decision to have a child on her own, we examined the experience of personal growth following the transition to motherhood of single mothers by choice and a comparison group of mothers in a couple relationship. We also examined the contribution of attachment style, resilience, and perceived social support to mothers' personal growth. Method: The sample consisted of 152 first-time Israeli mothers aged 28–48 whose children were no older than two. Of them, 76 were single mothers by choice and 76 were in a couple relationship. Results: Single mothers reported higher personal growth and less support from a significant other than mothers in a relationship. In addition, higher age, better economic status, and being a single mother contributed significantly to personal growth. Furthermore, among mothers in a relationship, higher growth was associated with more perceived support from the family, whereas among single mothers, it was associated with more perceived support from a significant other. Conclusion: The results highlight the potential of single mothers by choice to experience personal growth in the transition to motherhood, and the prominent role of support from a significant other in facilitating this experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motherhood represents a social construct that is given meaning within patriarchal systems of law and custom. The present study analyzes the Israeli legal discourse surrounding motherhood, parenting capacity, and sexual conduct of marginalized women whose parental rights were terminated. It examines how information about a mother's sexual heteronormal life style played a role in the construction of her motherhood as maternal unfitness. Drawing from 80 court decisions terminating parental rights, three themes emerged: the bad wife as a marker of the bad mother, "legitimate" sexual life as a pre-condition to desirable parenting, and negative views of women who give birth out of marriage. Maternal unfitness was associated with sexual immorality, illegitimacy, and "inappropriate" sexual choices. Alternative explanations of the findings are discussed from a critical feminist and legal perspective. Implications of the findings are outlined, particularly the need for women's voices to be heard in every decision-making process regarding state control of their parenting, and the need for professionals to avoid bias against socially marginalized women and engage in critical reflective thinking regarding why information about a mother's sexual conduct and life style is considered relevant to any assessment of her parental fitness and the child's best interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study focuses on self‐medication with antibiotics as it relates to gender roles and traditions in the Arab society in Israel, a collectivist minority with defined traditional gender norms. Its findings draw on the analysis of 116 face‐to‐face interviews with 60 pharmacists, 27 primary care physicians and 29 community members, mainly mothers and unmarried women, from different geographical localities. The findings describe how mothers are assigned the role of the family health caretakers, expected to abide to a hierarchical power structure, and listen to the advice of 'senior mothers'. These expectations can lead to mothers self‐medicating their children and themselves with antibiotics. Traditional constraints associated with sexuality were also found to compel unmarried women to self‐medicate. The findings point to a duality of power in family relations: women submit to having limited power in traditional gender roles but are accorded power as medical experts in health‐care decision‐making. The study concludes with recommendations for considering sociocultural factors of hierarchy, traditions and collectivist orientation when researching self‐care patterns and developing interventions to curtail antibiotics overuse. It also points to the importance of recognising pressures exerted on unmarried women and enabling them to use health‐care resources in their community for managing sexual health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The motherhood myth has been associated with perceptions of idealised motherhood which makes it difficult for women to express related struggles or distress. This is a second follow-up study focusing on the experiences of mothers from the United Kingdom (UK) and Israel. Methods: Forty-one women were interviewed about their experience of motherhood, body-image, feeding and well-being. Interviews were analysed thematically. Data were driven by the following questions: 1. how do Israeli and UK women experience motherhood 6–12 months postpartum? 2. Are these experiences associated with body satisfaction and well-being? 3. Whether perceptions of motherhood remained stable or changed from early (<6 months) to 12 months postpartum. Results: Three meta-themes were derived from the data relating to motherhood as ideal, good enough or burdened. Such experiences were associated with body acceptance and well-being. The ideal mother was associated with lack of preoccupation with body image whereas the good enough mother aspired to reclaim her mind and her old body. Our findings suggested that the burdened mothers' struggles in relating to motherhood often correlated to a negative body image. Israeli women perceived motherhood as ideal in the early and later postpartum whereas UK mothers continued to relate to their motherhood as ideal 6–12 months postpartum. Conclusions: Perceptions of motherhood varied between Israeli and UK mothers suggesting a diversity positively associated with culture and country. Encouraging mothers to openly share their perceptions of motherhood could lead to improvements in maternal well-being and more positive interactions with the newborn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to learn how women perceive invisible work and how it affects their lives. This article contributes to the integration of different manifestations of invisible work into a conceptual whole, especially in light of the fact that most research has confined itself to only one aspect such as care work, housework, or volunteering. Nine group interviews were conducted with Israeli mothers from differing ethnic, religious, class, and age groups. Analysis reveals that the distinctions between aspects of invisible work, such as housework and care work and between activities belonging to the private and public spheres are much more blurred in women's lives than might be inferred from the academic literature. Furthermore, throughout the life course of women the meanings and expressions of invisible work evolve creating a continuous struggle. In describing their everyday activities, women challenge the socially constructed binary oppositions in the context of the neoliberal economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dominant social, cultural, and professional discourses view motherhood as the core of a woman's identity. Thus, the identity of women who do not meet the general expectations of motherhood might be negatively affected. Specifically, mothers who are welfare clients may violate the prevailing norms concerning the maternal role. This qualitative study explores how Israeli mothers who are welfare clients construct their maternal identity. Studies of mothers who are clients of welfare services suggest that they feel blamed for being "bad" or "unfit" mothers. However, women occasionally negotiate or challenge the negative perceptions that are forced on them by hegemonic discourses of motherhood. We postulate that such women experience a troubled maternal identity that they negotiate through interactions with others. Accordingly, this study set to explore how Israeli mothers who are welfare clients negotiate their maternal identity in the context of motherhood and welfare discourses. Fourteen participants were interviewed, and the findings illustrate the vulnerability of the mothers and their strategies to construct a positive maternal identity. We discuss the findings in light of the concept of troubled identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article introduces and explores a neglected historical source dealing with the Yemenite children affair: The book Uri tsafon uvo'i teman ("Awake, O north wind, and come thou south" [Song of Songs, 4,16]), published in Israel in 1963. The novel revolves around the adoption of a Yemenite baby girl by an Israeli woman and is openly based on the author's biography. Although the Yemenite children affair has caused a public uproar that has been unsettling Israeli society, the book has left no mark, and remains marginal or is completely missing from the research literature dealing with the Yemenite children affair. This article reveals the importance of this book for the affair's investigation, and shows that it reflects the early view of the establishment on this matter, according to which the established Israeli public rescued the babies and redeemed them, while being aware that this was clearly an immoral act that would never fade away and perhaps would never be forgiven. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SafeCare® is a home‐based intervention programme targeting parents of children up to 5 years old and is designed to reduce and even prevent child abuse and neglect. Here, we present an evaluation of a pilot trial of SafeCare® in Israel, examining family's outcomes. We examined parents' behavioural changes resulting from the three main modules of SafeCare®: the Health, Safety, and Parent‐Child/Infant Interaction. We also studied the unplanned effects of SafeCare® by examining maternal depressive symptoms. Participants were 46 mothers with children identified as being at risk of neglect by the local Department of Social Services who completed the programme. The mothers filled out questionnaires at the beginning and at the end of their participation. After completing the programme, mothers' self‐reports showed changes in how they would treat a sick child, an increase in feelings of competency, and a decline in symptoms of depression. We thus conclude that SafeCare® helped the participating mothers, enhancing their feelings of competency and changing several of their behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies show that people with a learning disability (LD) are stigmatized. The study adopts the major tenets of the "Attribution Model of Reactions to Stigmas" (AMRS), which postulates that causal attributions to disability ("stigmas") are associated with affective responses that lead to behavioral outcomes. Adopting a multidimensional approach to attributions, we examined the applicability of the AMRS among Arab-Israeli mothers. A convenience sample of 122 mothers of elementary school children, who were diagnosed with LD, completed self-reported, closed-ended questionnaires. The AMRS was only partially supported by our findings. However, we found that four of the five types of reported causal attributions were significantly and negatively associated with maternal rejection. We also found high levels of maternal rejection, in addition to high levels of positive affective reactions. Attributing the child's LD to a medical condition at the time of the mother's pregnancy or the child's birth was associated with lower positive affect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The threat of cancer and the effects of risk-reducing surgery can have a significant impact on family planning and family life. In this qualitative study, we examine intersecting experiences of BRCA carrier status, subsequent risk-reducing surgery, and motherhood by analyzing in-depth interviews with 16 Jewish, Israeli mothers (ages 36–57) who underwent risk-reducing mastectomies and/or oophorectomies. Time emerged as a prism through which the BRCA motherhood experience could be viewed. In the "Findings" section, we present concepts of BRCA time and maternal time through three subthemes: (a) objective and subjective fertility clocks and BRCA: the child who won't be born; (b) synchronizing the clocks: the "correct" tempo and chronology; and (c) back to the future: intergenerational coalescence of time. We discuss the notions of time and existential health threats and subjective time in the primary mother–infant relational system within the context of the cultural ideal of the "motherhood myth." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite changes in women's status in recent decades in Arab-Palestinian society in Israel, marriage and motherhood still play a central role. Moreover, although the increase in the integration rates of young Arab-Palestinian women into the higher education system, as girls belonging to a minority group with traditional structures, they are expected to prioritize family and community expectations over personal aspirations. This study focuses on art projects of female Arab-Palestinian college students in Israel, which serve as a prism for detecting cultural perceptions of pathways to entering adulthood among this population today. These topics are central themes in the projects in question. Working on these projects forced the students to profoundly contemplate their life stage - being engaged or newly married and young mothers. The aim of the study was to decode the artworks in order to explore the students' feelings and thoughts on a topic rarely considered through the eyes of the young women themselves. The study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes that young educated Arab-Palestinian women experience in the current family structure. By analysing the projects using visual tools from semiotics and art history, along with verbal texts provided by the students, we assert that these projects serve as a crucial avenue for students' self-expression regarding topics seldom addressed. Even though the projects cannot be understood as critical of traditional gender expectations, we did find some interesting voices of unease regarding them. The move from their parents' home to their new one is widely described as difficult, where sadness and concern about the future are highly noticeable. In addition to accepting the stages of marriage and motherhood with joy and excitement, they also express fear and hesitation. This tension between fulfilling their expected roles and being unsure and hesitant about them exists in the projects. We claim that even if implicit and careful, these signs are important to recognize. However, it seems that higher education has failed to significantly undermine patriarchal and gender expectations., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

This article discusses the experiences of 14 Jewish New Orthodox teenagers (over 18 years of age) who gave birth out of wedlock and raised their children as adolescents. Drawings of the mother–child relationship and semistructured interviews with the mothers were used to assess their perceptions of parenthood, and their perceptions of their own parents' relationship with them. The analysis was based on the principles of grounded theory. Three themes emerged from the data analysis, which was based on grounded theory: (a) factors leading to teenage pregnancy out of wedlock, (b) parental characteristics of New Orthodox teenage girls, and (c) pregnancy and motherhood in adolescence, and in particular, coping and growth versus self-destruction. The findings showed that becoming pregnant for a religious teen may be experienced as a period of turmoil and generate feelings of ostracism and loss. Assistance during pregnancy and early parenting support emerged as insufficient. The discussion centers on ways to provide more information and awareness about sexuality and contraception in the New Orthodox community. Counseling and support services should be more easily available and accessible to religious girls in these communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiences of mothers of adult offspring with a dual diagnosis have rarely been discussed in the literature, despite growing involvement and responsibility of mothers for daily care of their children. Interpretive phenomenological analysis of in‐depth interviews was used to examine the mothering experience of 12 mothers of adult offspring with dual diagnosis. The analysis revealed that the mothers' experiences were intensive, abusive, and isolating, and simultaneously rendered them invisible, undervalued, or ignored by professionals, community, and family. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that this experience of 'intensive‐invisible' mothering was promoted or prevented by three intersecting mechanisms, identified here as discursive, institutional, and spatial. The research contributes to the fields of knowledge regarding family members of people with mental health problems, by adding a theoretical layer that takes into account how public discourses of motherhood mould women's accounts of their mothering experience. Practical implications of these findings for professionals working with these mothers are discussed. Specifically, therapeutic intervention that focuses on identifying and modifying the underlying psychological and social processes associated with the 'intensive‐invisible' mothering experience could be useful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To compare the health beliefs and infant vaccination behavior of mothers of four different ethno-cultural backgrounds: Israeli-born Jewish and Arab-Bedouin and immigrants from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia; to examine the associations between initial and subsequent infant vaccination behaviors of mothers and to identify predictors of vaccination behaviors. A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted in selected community neighborhoods. A quota sample included 100 mothers with infants aged 18–24 months (N  = 400) from each of the four ethno-cultural groups. Data were collected through questionnaires and examination of the infant vaccination cards. Both groups of immigrant mothers had the lowest adherence to the recommended vaccination regime. Our findings indicate that maternal behaviors regarding infant vaccinations were determined mainly by the behavior at the previous recommended vaccination stage. Different ethno-cultural groups presented different sociodemographic predictors of vaccination behaviors. These predictors only affected the vaccinations at the early stage of 2 months. Policy makers should be aware that mother's vaccination behaviors vary according to ethno-cultural groups to establish culturally tailored intervention programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal child-centrism is widely regarded in Western societies as the ideal of being a good mother. However, it has recently been criticized for the toll it takes on mothers. This study examines the widespread maternal practice of child-centrism. It is the first, to our knowledge, to examine predictors of the tendency towards child-centrism. Nowadays, with the social unwritten imperative to prioritize children's needs regardless of maternal standpoint, this study aims to focus and shed light on mothers and to explore which maternal characteristics predict maternal child-centrism. Self-reported questionnaires were completed by 320 Jewish-Israeli mothers, dealing with maternal child-centrism, maternal characteristics (i.e. attachment style, anxiety, defensiveness, and negative and positive affect), and socio-demographic context. The results of the Hierarchical Regression analysis revealed that stress-related maternal characteristics of anxiety and defensiveness predicted maternal child-centrism. These findings may imply that child-centrism serves as a mechanism for overcoming distress faced by mothers struggling with current Western societal norms. Its relationship to the feminist conceptualization of the Myth of Motherhood is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on the psychological mechanisms of mothering involved in the association of maternal sociability and the sociability of their preschool children. In particular, it is posited that this association is mediated by two maternal psychological conceptualizations: (a) perception of ability to take on the role of motherhood (i.e., maternal competence) and (b) perception of distribution of resources between child and self (i.e., maternal child-centrism). Participants included 320 Jewish–Israeli mothers of preschool children (age 4-6 years) who completed self-reported questionnaires dealing with social relationships, child sociability, maternal competence, and maternal child-centrism. Multiple regression analyses confirmed the mediating effect of maternal competence and child-centrism as well as the association between the mother’s sociability and child sociability. These findings are discussed in light of social capital theory and contemporary parenting styles. Professionals working with families should be aware of the impact of social networks on maternal perception and their influence on children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims and objectives: To examine professional stigma and attitudes of parenthood towards postpartum women with severe mental illness and the association between postpartum nurses’ attitudes and nursing interventions that promote motherhood. Background: Stigma and attitudes towards parenthood of women with severe mental illness may influence nurses’ clinical practices. Design: Cross‐sectional, mixed methods. Methods: The Stigma among Health Professionals towards People with Severe Mental Illness, Attitudes towards Parenthood among People with Severe Mental Illness and Nursing Interventions that Promote Becoming a Mother Questionnaires were used in the study, as well as qualitative analysis. Results: Sixty‐one postpartum nurses participated in the study. Increased stigma was associated with an increase in negative attitudes towards parenthood among people with severe mental illness, in general, and towards their parenthood skills, in particular. Postpartum nurses reported a decrease in nursing interventions and a therapeutic nurse–client relationship that fosters mother's empowerment. Themes that emerged from the qualitative analysis were postpartum nurse's perceptions of inadequacy, difficulty of postpartum nurses taking responsibility for managing women with severe mental illness and a paternalistic approach to these women, rather than empowerment, regarding infant care. Conclusion: Nurses providing care to postpartum women with severe mental illness and their infants may provide fewer routine postpartum interventions due to professional stigma and negative attitudes concerning parenting skills. Nurses should provide individualised, tailored care that allows women with severe mental illness to become a mother to the best of her ability. Relevance to clinical practice: Not all women with severe mental illness are capable of caring for themselves and/or their baby. Nurses should provide individualised, tailored care that allows the women with severe mental illness to become a mother to the best of her ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on Bowlby's (1982) caregiving theoretical framework, this is the first preliminary examination of caregiving to postpartum depression (PPD) as well as the potential mediators to the psychological manifestations of caregiving in PPD. One hundred and fifty Israeli mothers completed four scales assessing PPD, parenting self-efficacy, caregiving representations and marital satisfaction, within 6 months after giving birth. Researchers indicated a significant association between deactivated caregiving and PPD that was mediated by lower levels of parental self-efficacy and lower marital satisfaction. The associations between caregiving hyperactivation and PPD were nonsignificant. Theoretical and practical implications for clinical practice and postpartum risk factor models are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I seek to present the spectrum of contemporary family structures in Palestinian society in Israel, focusing on those that emerge in various contexts of changes in education, employment and place of residence. To enable attention to the multiplicity of identities engendered by intersection of the positions of gender/class/nationality and to assess the family patterns that maintain them and are shaped by them, I evaluate relations between two concepts: Connectivity, as proposed by Joseph (1999) and translocational positionality conceived by Anthias (2008). The former relates to the development of a feminine identity that develops in a patriarchal gender context, while the latter refers to the constant negotiation that women conduct with the contexts of their sense of belonging and the manner in which they use various resources. Those concepts help determine whether the process that Palestinian in Israel have been undergoing are accompanied by a greater variety of family patterns. The article will be based on a study in which I conducted semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Palestinian mothers in Israel. The data were subjected to intersectional analysis from a feminist perspective, enabling study of the group under examination families of Palestinian women –separately from its surrounding society and also revealing the various subgroups comprising this social category. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This study examined the construction of the maternal identity among Jewish Israeli women whose children are raised by their father in a sociocultural context that valorizes the maternal role in the lives of women. Interpretive interactionist analysis of in-depth interviews with 13 nonresidential mothers identified the discursive strategies that they used to negotiate a troubled maternal identity due to their nonnormative position. The mothers deflected guilt and responsibility for the fact that they do not live with their children. Further, they exhibited two dynamics of maternal identity construction: internalizing the critical discourse and constructing a nonresidential identity as a "good enough" mother. The findings support the view that hegemonic social discourses affect the construction of maternal identity by nonresidential mothers. At the same time, they are also indicative of the creation of an alternative discourse that portrays a nonresidential maternal identity as positive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the interplay of mothers' coherent representations of their child (i.e., multidimensional and balanced view); resolution of the child's ASD diagnosis (i.e., acceptance); and emotional availability to the child in the unique cultural context of Arab-Israeli families. Participants were 46 mothers and their 2-8 year old sons. Coherent representations and resolution of the diagnosis were assessed using narrative measures. Emotional availability (namely, sensitivity, structuring, and lack of intrusiveness and hostility) was observed during mother-child play interactions. Results suggested that coherent and resolved mothers were more emotionally available than incoherent and/or unresolved mothers. These findings highlight the importance of supporting mothers' ability to accept the child's diagnosis and see the unique characteristics of the child beyond his ASD symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale Despite the benefits and availability of drug treatment in Western countries, research has shown low utilisation rates, especially by mothers. Studies have indicated internal barriers (e.g., shame) and external/structural barriers (e.g., poverty) to women's utilisation of drug treatment, but little is known about the interrelated axes of marginalization that create such barriers and, even less, facilitators of treatment. A promising avenue for examining this path may be the theoretical perspective of intersectionality, which has often been used to illustrate how women's experiences are shaped by gender in conjunction with other factors, including class, age, and race. Objective The purpose of the study was to obtain a deeper understanding of the barriers and facilitators of drug-abuse treatment among substance-abusing mothers, including practical implications. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 Israeli-born and immigrant mothers known to child protection and welfare agencies. A critical feminist theoretical perspective informed by intersectionality was adopted to examine the barriers to and facilitators of their enrolment in drug treatment. Results Thematic analysis revealed three themes in the interrelationships of different factors and treatment utilisation. First, the threat of losing child custody was interrelated with lack of social and family support, immigration status, being post-partum, and economic hardship to shape barriers to treatment. Second, a set of coping resources originating in their marginality was interrelated with opportunity for treatment. Last, the participants suggested changes that would encourage treatment utilisation, with focus on non-judgmental referral procedures. Conclusions The findings indicated that barriers and facilitators are interrelated and co-constructed, reflecting the interlocking of power and oppression across the axes of class, gender, and ethnicity. Focusing on social inequality and gender in policies and research on women's drug treatment, the findings may inform the development of strategies to overcome treatment barriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first to examine infant-mother attachment in the Arab culture. Eighty-five Arab 1-year-old infants from Israel were observed in the strange situation, and maternal sensitivity was assessed from home observations. Supporting attachment theory's normativity hypothesis, no differences were found between the Arab-Israeli attachment distribution and Jewish-Israeli, Western, and non-Western distributions when examined at the two-way secure versus insecure level, although a few differences emerged when examined at the four-way ABCD level. Supporting the sensitivity hypothesis, mothers of secure infants were more sensitive than those of insecure infants but only in the case of Christian (and not Muslim) mothers. The findings provide support to attachment theory's generalizability but raise questions regarding the assessment of maternal sensitivity cross-culturally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]