The author gives an overview of selected research results concerning deprivation and protection. Comprehensive retrospective and prospective studies show one uniform result: the presence of at least one trusted person in early childhood considerably lowers the probability of later mentally determined disturbances. On the other hand, the absence of such persons increases the probability of later illness. Only a minority of adults (10-30%) succeed in mastering their difficult childhoods in an unproblematic manner. The possible reasons for this are presented. Contrary to some divergent findings, it can be assumed that infant day care due to maternal employment during the first year of the child's life is usually not a risk factor with respect to insecure attachment or later psychopathology. Finally, the relationship between psychoanalysis and deprivation-protection research, and the respective methodological particularities, are outlined.