Childhood exposure to parental nudity, parent‐child co‐sleeping, and “primal scenes”: A review of clinical opinion and empirical evidence

Abstract

In this article I compare clinical opinion with empirical evidence of psychological harm associated with childhood exposure to parental nudity, parent‐child co‐sleeping, and scenes of parental sexuality (“primal scenes”). Exceedingly scant empirical data could be located. Only in the case of parent‐child co‐sleeping is there any suggestion in the empirical literature of associated harm, and this harm—sleep disturbance—may be an antecedent rather than a consequence of co‐sleeping. A unique in‐progress 18‐year longitudinal study of adjustment is also described.