ABSTRACT
One of the fundamental questions about child development concerns the significance of biologically inherited genetic features and the influence of the environment. The term "genetically contingent" is colloquially equated with a necessary transmission of a genetic factor from the parents to all of their children. Child autism, a serious disorder which influences children in their mental and emotional development, proceeds from a genetic and an environmental influence. By environmental influences we understand, above all, the actual relationship of the parents to the child, their manner of upbringing, as well as the child's living conditions, its care, and social affiliation. The parents' upbringing constitutes an essential influence on child development. If we compare the upbringing of parents from problem families with that of parents of successful children, a clear tendency is visible: problem families are characterized by frequent breaking off of contact, separation of the parents, and abrupt alternation between closeness and uncaring distance.
