Sextuplets: Study of a Sibling Group

Synopsis:

'This unique and fascinating book carefully traces aspects of the personality of sextuplets which persist from birth onwards. The way in which the personal characteristics of both the mother and her children influence the quality of maternal care and relationships with peers is also carefully compared and delineated. What is most original and striking about this book is the examination of sibling group relationships and the description of the sextuplets' early innate characteristics and interactions in early childhood through both psychological testing and infant observations and then shows how specific characteristics and interactions persist through early adult life. It is essential reading for many professionals involved in child development studies including doctors, teachers, psychologists, psychotherapists and health visitors.'

- Jeanne Magagna, Phd, Consultant Psychotherapist, Ellern Mede Centre and former Head of Psychotherapy Services, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children

Description:

'This is a study of an exceptional group of sextuplets who were observed at home on a monthly basis, for two-hour visits over a three-year period, by Linda Fortini, a psychologist who lives and works in Florence, Italy. We remember those meetings more than twenty years ago when we, six participants like the group of sextuplets, discussed the monthly observations. Our group consisted of a pediatrician, a neonatalogist, an auxologist, two psychoanalysts and the observer. We all had a common interest in research on child mental development and we followed the traditional methodology of Infant Observation established in 1948 at the Tavistock Clinic in London by Esther Bick, a psychoanalyst.'
- Gina Ferrara Mori and Franco Mori, from the Preface

Contents
- Research methods and structure
- Infancy and childhood seen through Infant Observation
- Psychodynamic profiles of the individual sextuplets
- Being sextuplets
- Follow up fifteen years later

Notes about the author(s):

Linda Root Fortini is a psychologist and psychotherapist who has worked in the Italian National Health Service for thirty years, andteaches Infant Observation to training psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, midwivies and school teachers.

Laura Mori is a psychologist and psychotherapist, specializing in the treatment of children, adolescents, parents and families.