The importance of parental verbal and embodied mentalizing in shaping parental experiences of stress and coparenting

Parental mentalizing—recognizing that children are separate psychological entities, who have their own thoughts, wishes, and intentions that motivate their behaviors—is traditionally considered a verbal, linguistic capacity. This paper aimed to examine the relation between parental verbal mentalizing (parental reflective function; PRF) and its nonverbal form—parental embodied mentalizing (PEM)—and how both constructs contribute to parents’ subjective experience of parenting, namely parental stress and coparental alliance. 68 mothers and their three-months-old babies were observed to assess PEM, interviewed to code PRF, and completed self-reports of coparental alliance and parental stress. PEM was found to be positively correlated with PRF. Mediation analyses revealed that higher PEM, but not PRF, was associated with lower parental stress, mediated by positive reports of coparental alliance. The findings support adopting a multifaceted approach when studying parental mentalizing, both in terms of assessing parental mentalizing beyond its verbal expressions to include also embodied aspects, as well as investigating its impact beyond infant development to include the familial context within it operates. Conceptual, empirical and clinical implications are discussed.     

Goodness of fit between prenatal maternal sleep and infant sleep: Associations with maternal depression and attachment security

The current study prospectively examined the ways in which goodness of fit between maternal and infant sleep contributes to maternal depressive symptoms and the mother-child relationship across the first years of life. In a sample of 173 mother-child dyads, maternal prenatal sleep, infant sleep, maternal depressive symptoms, and mother-child attachment security were assessed via self-report, actigraphy, and observational measures. Results suggested that a poor fit between mothers’ prenatal sleep and infants’ sleep at 8 months (measured by sleep diary and actigraphy) was associated with maternal depressive symptoms at 15 months. Additionally, maternal depression mediated the association between the interplay of mother and infant sleep (measured by sleep diary) and mother-child attachment security at 30 months. Findings emphasize the importance of the match between mother and infant sleep on maternal wellbeing and mother-child relationships and highlight the role of mothers’ perceptions of infant sleep.     

Another look inside the gap: ecological contributions to the transmission of attachment in a sample of adolescent mother-infant dyads

Ecological contributions to attachment transmission were studied in a sample of 64 adolescent mother-infant dyads. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants were 6 and 10 months old, and infant security was assessed at 15 and 18 months. Maternal attachment state of mind was measured with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) after the 1st assessment. Ecological variables considered were maternal education and depression, paternal support, and infant maternal grandmother support. Results indicated that when the contribution of ecological variables was statistically controlled for, sensitivity was a significant mediator and state of mind no longer contributed to infant security. Sensitivity also mediated an association between maternal education and infant attachment, suggesting that attachment transmission is embedded in a more global process of infant attachment development.     

Associations between maternal mind-mindedness and infant attachment security: investigating the mediating role of maternal sensitivity

In the last 20 years, three meta-analyses suggested that the relation between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment security was lesser in magnitude than originally believed. This led to a search for other parental behaviors likely to contribute to the development of attachment security. Based on previous theoretical propositions and empirical findings suggesting that maternal mind-mindedness may contribute to infant attachment security by favoring maternal sensitivity, the aim of this study was to examine whether sensitivity mediates the relation between maternal mind-mindedness and infant attachment security. Fifty mother-infant dyads took part in two home visits (12 months and 15 months), allowing for assessment of maternal sensitivity (T1), mind-mindedness (T1), and infant attachment (T2). The results confirmed that maternal sensitivity mediates the relation between mind-mindedness and infant attachment. The findings are discussed in light of the assessments used in this and previous studies.     

Infant emotion regulation: Relations to bedtime emotional availability,attachment security,and temperament

The present study examines the influences of mothers’ emotional availability toward their infants during bedtime, infant attachment security, and interactions between bedtime parenting and attachment with infant temperamental negative affectivity, on infants’ emotion regulation strategy use at 12 and 18 months. Infants’ emotion regulation strategies were assessed during a frustration task that required infants to regulate their emotions in the absence of parental support. Whereas emotional availability was not directly related to infants’ emotion regulation strategies, infant attachment security had direct relations with infants’ orienting toward the environment and tension reduction behaviors. Both maternal emotional availability and security of the mother–infant attachment relationship interacted with infant temperamental negative affectivity to predict two strategies that were less adaptive in regulating frustration.     

Examining antecedents of infant attachment security with mothers and fathers: An ecological systems perspective

Taking an ecological systems perspective, early parent–child relationships can be affected by interactions between systems where some are more proximally linked to the child than others. Socioeconomic status, a distal factor, is associated with social functioning during childhood, but research on its association with functioning during infancy, particularly attachment, is scant and inconsistent. Moreover, it is not clear how distal factors affect infant functioning. Other systems such as marital adjustment and parenting may moderate or mediate relations between distal factors and infant attachment. The current longitudinal study (n = 135) examined the role of various systems – parental resources, marital functioning, parental sensitivity and involvement – in early infancy (3-, 5-, 7-months) on infant–mother (12-months) and infant–father (14-months) attachment security. Findings supported moderating processes but in different ways for infant–mother versus infant–father dyads. Implications for future studies and interventions are discussed.     

Associations among average parental educational attainment,maternal stress,and infant screen exposure at 6 months of age

Evidence suggests that increased use of screens early in life may have negative developmental consequences for children. However, little is known concerning parental factors that predict initial screen exposure in infancy. The primary goal of this study was to examine whether parental educational attainment and maternal stress were associated with infant screen exposure by 6 months of age. A diverse sample of mothers (N = 93) was recruited prenatally. In a follow-up visit when the infants were six months of age (N = 82), we examined factors that may be associated with initial infant exposure to screens. First, mothers reported whether they had already exposed their infants to screens. Thereafter, those mothers who reported already having exposed their infants to screens were further queried to determine the extent of infant screen use. Results demonstrated that among infants exposed to screens, mothers reported an average of nearly 3 h of daily screen use. Average parental educational attainment, but not maternal stress, was significantly associated with initial infant exposure. Of those families who endorsed screen exposure by 6 months, 70 % reported a screen in the room where the child sleeps, nearly half reported using screens to help calm the infant, and about a third reported using a screen at least sometimes during meals, when going to sleep, and while waiting. Parental education around infant screen use behaviors may be important to help promote child development and outcomes.     

Cardiac physiological regulation across early infancy: The roles of infant surgency and parental involvement with mothers and fathers

High baseline respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) and infant temperament are associated with a child’s ability to self-regulate, but moderators of this association have not been thoroughly examined in the literature. Parents who are more involved might have more opportunities to interact with and soothe their children. The current study examined whether parental involvement moderated the association between infant temperament and baseline RSA with mothers and fathers across early infancy. Participants included families (n = 91) assessed at 4 and 8 months of age. Infant temperamental surgency and parental involvement were measured via parent-report when infants were 4 months old, and infant baseline RSA was measured at 4 and 8 months of age. Results revealed differences in mother versus father predictors of infant baseline RSA. A significant Infant Surgency X Maternal Play interaction was revealed; infants of mothers who were low involvement increased in their baseline RSA as their surgency increased. A significant main effect of father care was found; infants with highly involved fathers had higher baseline RSA. In conclusion, mothers and fathers may differentially influence their infant’s cardiac physiological regulation based on their specific type of involvement.     

依恋关系的形成：保护情境中母亲和婴儿的作用

母婴依恋是婴儿期形成的首要关系之一, 同时也是影响儿童早期社会化的关系性背景。以亲子互动中形成依恋安全感差异的相关研究为基础, 从特质观、领域特殊观和社会认知观的角度对它们进行梳理, 有助于提炼出母亲的敏感性、特定的互动情境以及儿童的社会预期分别在预测母婴依恋关系中的作用。3种研究取向的整合有赖于细致地区分特质观和社会认知观在看待亲子互动中双方情绪状态、认知能力和回应过程上的差别; 制定新的依恋干预方案应当以提高父母识别和应对婴儿消极情绪的能力, 以及为婴儿提供适当的依随性学习经验为目的。     

My mother is sensitive,but I am too tired to know: Infant sleep as a moderator of prospective relations between maternal sensitivity and infant outcomes

This study investigated the moderating role of infant sleep in the connections between maternal sensitivity and three indicators of infant functioning: attachment security, theory of mind, and executive functioning (EF). Maternal sensitivity was assessed when infants (27 girls and 36 boys) were 1 year of age. Infant sleep was assessed with actigraphy at age 2; attachment security, theory of mind, and EF were also assessed at age 2. Results indicated that maternal sensitivity was positively related to attachment security only among infants who got more sleep at night, and to conflict-EF and theory of mind only for infants who got greater proportions of their sleep during the night. These results suggest that sleep may enhance the benefits of maternal sensitivity for some aspects of infants’ functioning, providing further support for the importance of sleep maturation as a salient developmental task of infancy.     

Reflection in thought and action: Maternal parenting reflectivity predicts mind‐minded comments and interactive behavior

Recent research has identified mothers' mental reflective functioning and verbal mind‐minded comments as important predictors of subsequent infant attachment security. In the present study, we examine associations between mothers' (N = 95) parenting reflectivity expressed in an interview and observed parenting behavior, including verbal mind‐minded comments and interactive behavior during interaction with their 7‐month‐old infants. Parenting reflectivity was coded from the Working Model of the Child Interview. Maternal behavior was assessed via observations of mother–infant interaction during free play and structured teaching tasks. Both maternal appropriate mind‐minded comments as well as other indicators of maternal interactive behavior were coded. Parenting reflectivity was positively correlated with mind‐minded comments and behavioral sensitivity. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that parenting reflectivity contributed to maternal behavior beyond the contributions of mothers' educational status and depression symptoms. Discussion emphasizes the importance of individual differences in parental capacity to accurately perceive and mentalize their infants' experience, and the consequences of these differences for caregiving behavior.     

Similarities and differences in mothers' and observers' ratings of infant security on the Attachment Q-Sort

This study examined the similarities and differences in maternal and observer Attachment Behavior Q-Sort ratings (AQS; Waters, 1995) and their relations to dimensions of the developmental ecology - maternal sensitivity, infant irritability, parental stress and psychosocial risk. Data was gathered from low risk (adult mothers; N=44) and high risk mother-infant dyads (adolescent mothers; N=83) when infants were aged 6, 10 and 15 months old, attachment being assessed at 15 months by both mothers and independent observers. A common factor was extracted from both sorts and served to operationalize the similarities between mother and observer ratings. Regressions were conducted to extract maternal and observer AQS scores that were unrelated to each other to represent the difference between the two sorts. Correlation analyses indicated that the common AQS factor was moderately linked to maternal sensitivity and parental stress, and showed a weak association to psychosocial risk and infant irritability. Residual maternal scores showed greater correlations with infant irritability and parental stress than did observer residual scores. Observer scores showed a greater correlation with psychosocial risk than maternal scores. Results suggest that common AQS variance presents a pattern of associations with ecological variables that is coherent with attachment research. Variance related to irritability, stress and risk appear to drive the differences between maternal and observer observations.     

Exposure to child care,parenting style and attachment security

The present study addressed whether security of attachment is differentiated by quality of parenting and quantity of exposure to child care. Sixty mothers participated with their 14‐month‐old infants, who by the age of 12‐months had received either exclusive maternal care, or varying degrees of exposure to child care. Levels of attachment security were assessed through maternal completion of the Attachment Q‐Set(AQS); parenting quality was assessed through observations of mother–infant interactions during structured tasks. The scores that less sensitive mothers assign their toddlers is higher when their children are in child care for more hours per week; whereas the scores that more sensitive mothers assign their toddlers is lower when their children are in child care for more hours per week. These contrasting patterns suggest that the effects of parenting style on attachment security are moderated by quantity of exposure to child care. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social and individual determinants of infant attachment security and disorganization

The aim of this study was to assess individual and social antecedents of attachment security and attachment disorganization of infants as assessed by the Strange Situation. Observations from two longitudinal studies, with a parallel assessment schedule yielding a total sample of 88 infant-mother pairs, formed the database of the study. Newborn behavioral organization, in terms of orienting ability and regulation of state, and maternal sensitivity assessed several times during the infant's first year were used to predict the security of infant-mother attachment and the status of disorganization of attachment behavior strategies at the age of 12 months. Whereas attachment security was significantly associated only with maternal sensitivity, the status of disorganization was only predicted by newborn behavioral organization. The findings are discussed with respect to specific assumptions about individual and social contribution to the development of infant-mother attachment on the background of maternal attachment representation.     

Enhancing parental reflective functioning through early dyadic interventions: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is an important predictor of infant attachment, and interventions that target parent–infant/toddler dyads who are experiencing significant problems have the potential to improve PRF. A range of dyadic interventions have been developed over the past two decades, some of which explicitly target PRF as part of their theory of change, and some that do not explicitly target PRF, but that have measured it as an outcome. However, no meta‐analytic review of the impact of these interventions has been carried out to date. The aim of this review was to evaluate the effectiveness of dyadic interventions targeting parents of infant and toddlers, in improving PRF and a number of secondary outcomes. A systematic review and meta‐analysis was conducted in which key electronic databases were searched up to October 2018. Eligible studies were identified and data extracted. Data were synthesised using meta‐analysis and expressed as both effect sizes and risk ratios. Six studies were identified providing a total of 521 participants. The results of six meta‐analyses showed a nonsignificant moderate improvement in PRF in the intervention group (standardised mean difference [SMD]: –0.46; 95% confidence interval [CI] [–0.97, 0.04]) and a significant reduction in disorganised attachment (risk ratio: 0.50; 95% CI [0.27, 0.90]). There was no evidence for intervention effects on attachment security (odds ratio: 0.71; 95% CI [0.19, 2.64]), parent–infant interaction (SMD: –0.10; 95% CI [–0.46, 0.26]), parental depression (SMD: –1.55; 95% CI [–3.74, 0.64]) or parental global distress (SMD: –0.19, 95% CI [–3.04, 22.65]). There were insufficient data to conduct subgroup analysis (i.e. to compare the effectiveness of mentalisation‐based treatment with non‐mentalization‐based treatment interventions). Relational early interventions may have important benefits in improving PRF and reducing the prevalence of attachment disorganisation. The implications for future research are discussed.     

Attachment in low‐SES rural Appalachian infants: Contextual,infant, and maternal interaction risk and protective factors

Attachment classifications were obtained for 95 low‐socioeconomic‐status (SES) rural Appalachian infants in the Strange Situation procedure at 15 months. The distribution of secure (B) and insecure (A, C, D) infants was similar to other low‐SES samples and significantly different from low‐risk samples. Levels of contextual and infant risk, together with maternal responsiveness to crying and pattern of sensitivity from 4 to 9 months, predicted attachment security. High social support, when examined as a protective factor, related to reduced contextual risk, but not to increased likelihood of security. Exploratory discriminant function analyses showed that infants in secure relationships differed in positive directions on contextual and maternal interactional factors. Insecure‐organized (A and C) infants experienced contextual and maternal interaction risks, while insecure‐disorganized (D) infants were best distinguished by infant characteristics, including greater likelihood of being male and low use of mother as a secure base at 9 months. ©2001 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.     

Child mortality and parental grief: An evolutionary analysis

Across most of human history, infant and child mortality rates were very high, suggesting the death of a child was a challenge faced by many ancestral parents. Prolonged grief likely harmed grievers’ fitness, yet grief is ubiquitous and often protracted, thereby presenting a puzzle for evolutionary arguments. We integrate existing theories of grief with patterns of parental bereavement to examine how human psychology has been shaped to respond to the death of a child. We contend that variation in life history strategy may explain the relative difficulty with which individuals recover from losing a child. We propose that the same physiological mechanisms underlying detachment and grief during dissolved romantic relationships may also underlie the intensity of parental attachment and bereavement. This theoretical review thus integrates evolutionary theory with extant grief research to provide a functional analysis of the immense suffering associated with the loss of a child.     

Revisiting the roots of attachment: A review of the biological and psychological effects of maternal skin-to-skin contact and carrying of full-term infants

During the early period of hypothesis building and empirical testing of attachment theory, a major emphasis was placed on mother-infant physical contact. In spite of this, mother-infant contact has received scant attention amongst attachment and child development researchers in the past decades. Here, a brief theoretical framework for mother-infant contact is presented, drawing on animal studies as well as human studies of preterm infants and neonates. Salient mechanisms may include an extended sensitive period during early infancy, requiring specific somatosensory stimuli for bio-behavioral homeorhesis; oxytocinergic and epigenetic pathways; kinesthetic stimuli and face-to-face proximity allowing for increased social interaction. Studies of extended human mother-full-term infant physical contact have demonstrated positive effects in multiple domains. For infants, these include sleep organization, temperature and heart rate regulation, behavioral response, crying/colic, socio-emotional development, attachment quality, speech development opportunities and mother-child interactions. For mothers, studies demonstrate improved depressive symptomatology, physiological stress regulation, contingent responsivity, breastfeeding and mother-child interactions. Parent-infant attachment quality has gained prominence as a trauma-resilience factor as well as a predictor of adult physical health. The potential role of mother-infant contact as an attachment promoting intervention as well as future research subjects are discussed. Current evidence supports the original attachment research that early maternal touch provision may influence infant socio-emotional development and attachment quality, with positive implications for mother-child relationship functioning.     

Attachment in preterm infants and their mothers: Neonatal risk status and maternal representations

High‐risk neonatal status, indexed by an intracranial hemorrhage (ICH), and maternal representations of past and present attachment relationships were examined as predictors of infant attachment in a sample of preterm infants. Participants included 50 19‐month‐old infants and their middle‐class, predominantly African American mothers. A maternal‐report questionnaire and a structured interview were used to assess past relationship history with mother and current relationship with infant, respectively. The Strange Situation Paradigm was used to assess attachment security. Multiple logistic regression analyses suggested that maternal representation of the infant—but not ICH or maternal childhood history—significantly predicted infant attachment security. ICH and maternal history of childhood rejection were predictive of disorganized infant attachment. The findings are consistent with previous data that suggest that maternal factors are more important than infant factors in determining infant attachment security. These data also suggest that neurological deficits may contribute to disorganized infant attachment. © 2000 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health.