Mother and caregiver representations of toddlers in a kibbutz setting

Seventy-seven mother-caregiver pairs were interviewed by a 10-item instrument in order to evaluate their perception of children which they cared for, and their dyadic relationships with him or her. Children's ages ranged between 16-38 months. Results indicated that mothers presented more elaborated and more positive descriptions of their children, and perceived them as more developed as compared with caregivers. Mothers' emotional tone in describing the child was more ambivalent, namely more anxious and at the same time also more enthusiastic, as compared with the caregivers. Results are discussed in terms of the distinction between the meaning attributed by mothers and caregivers to their respective experiences of caregiving role-relations with the same child, and their different representations of the same child.