Preschool Children’s Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Mother–Child,Father–Child and Teacher–Child Relationships

Prosocial behavior is considered an important dimension of positive development. Although previous research suggests the quality of children’s early relationships may influence prosocial behaviors, the specific contributions of mother, father and teacher to children’s prosocial behavior have been less examined. This is a cross-sectional study that investigates (a) the combined associations between mother–, father– and teacher–child relationships, and prosocial behavior in 168 children aged 36–72 months, and (b) the mediating role of the teacher–child relationship in the association between the parent–child relationship and prosocial behavior. Results suggested a positive link between the quality of relationships with early caregivers and children’s prosocial behavior. The quality of both father– and teacher–child relationships were found to have a direct association with children’s prosocial behavior. The quality of the mother–child relationship was indirectly linked to children’s prosocial behavior, via the teacher–child relationship. Results suggesting connections between multiple relational contexts were discussed based on the notion of internal working models proposed by attachment theory. Mothers’ and fathers’ contributions to children’s prosocial behavior were also discussed considering differences on relational styles and changing roles of mothers and fathers from dual-earner families.     

Maternal representations during pregnancy and early infant-mother interactions

This paper deals with the influence of maternal representations during pregnancy on the subsequent mother-infant relationship and the infant's style of attachment at 1 year of age. Psychoanalytic thinking, beginning with Freud to the most recent contributions, has considered the great importance of the mental dynamics between parents and children to which empirical research according to Bowlby's theoretical perspective has contributed. The current research project was planned in order to study the intergenerational processes. Starting during pregnancy, the woman was interviewed specifically to study maternal representations of herself as a mother and of the future baby. When the child was 1 year old, the style of attachment was studied during the Ainsworth Strange Situation paradigm and, at the same time, the mother was given the Adult Attachment Interview. Case studies are presented to illustrate, from the clinical point of view, the mental dynamics during pregnancy and the influence on the style of attachment of the baby. The clinical implications are discussed especially in terms of the fantasies in pregnancy and their relevance for the subsequent mother-infant relationship.     

亲子依恋与儿童抑郁症状的关系：儿童对环境的生物敏感性的作用及父母差异

不良的亲子依恋是导致儿童抑郁症状的风险因素,但其对儿童的影响会因儿童对环境的生物敏感性不同而存在差异。为探究家庭中母子、父子依恋对儿童抑郁症状的影响及儿童生物敏感性(本文中采用迷走神经抑制作为指标)在其中的作用,本研究结合行为任务、问卷报告、生理测量等多种研究手段,招募150名学龄儿童(平均年龄8.64岁,63名女孩)参与研究。结果表明：(1)学龄儿童的母子依恋水平高于父子依恋水平。(2)高水平的母子依恋与父子依恋会同等程度地降低儿童的抑郁症状。(3)儿童对环境的生物敏感性对母子依恋影响儿童抑郁症状路径的调节作用显著,生理上对环境更敏感(高迷走神经抑制)的儿童更易得益于高母子依恋,表现出较低的抑郁水平;但同时,这类儿童在母子依恋较低时也更易表现出较高的抑郁水平。(4)儿童的生物敏感性对父子依恋影响儿童抑郁症状路径的调节作用不显著,高父子依恋对生物敏感性水平不同的儿童均存在有利影响。(5)在不同情境中测量的迷走神经抑制对亲子依恋影响儿童抑郁症状的调节作用模式相似,表现出跨情境一致的特点。本研究率先揭示儿童迷走神经抑制与亲子依恋对儿童抑郁症状的联合作用机制及父母角色差异。     

Intrafamilial physical victimization and externalizing behavior problems: Who remain the ‘forgotten’ children?

Over the past few decades, researchers have documented positive associations between direct child maltreatment and exposure to interpersonal violence (including intimate partner violence, community violence, school violence, and media violence) and children's externalizing behavior problems. However, current family violence literature largely ignores the effects of child abuse on other children in the family. A handful of studies have focused on exposure to child abuse and documented the behavioral effects on siblings, and these studies lend support for broadening scholarship focused on this type of family violence. This article presents empirical research and theories that focus on the relationships between child physical abuse and exposure to intimate partner violence and children's externalizing behavior problems. Using this literature as a foundation, an argument is made for the need to focus on children's exposure to child physical abuse. This article presents information from the few studies that have focused on children who were exposed to the physical abuse of a sibling and offers theoretical frameworks, including social learning theory and psychological proximity, as a foundation for future research. The article concludes with a discussion of services that may be necessary for children who have been exposed to the physical abuse of a sibling, including services focused on safety and mental health.     

Reciprocity in a Securely Attached Mother-Infant Dyad

This article describes the interactions between a highly attuned, sensitive mother, who had the capacity to achieve primary maternal preoccupation, and her infant during his first four months of life. The evolving secure attachment patterns discerned from weekly observations in a naturalistic setting correspond with Beatrice Beebe’s findings using microanalysis of mother-infant face-to-face interactions to predict the nature of the four-month infant’s emerging internal working model of attachment. Using a series of vignettes, the author illustrates how this mother-infant dyad were adept at coordinating their attention, affective responses, vocal rhythms, and touch in ways that seemed to promote feelings of mutual recognition and enjoyment for them both. The mother’s capacity for reflective functioning enabled her to imagine what her baby was feeling and to consistently comfort him, contributing to the formation of their secure mother-infant bond.     

A Model of Mindful Parenting: Implications for Parent–Child Relationships and Prevention Research

This paper introduces a model of “mindful parenting” as a framework whereby parents intentionally bring moment-to-moment awareness to the parent–child relationship. This is done by developing the qualities of listening with full attention when interacting with their children, cultivating emotional awareness and self-regulation in parenting, and bringing compassion and nonjudgmental acceptance to their parenting interactions. First, we briefly outline the theoretical and empirical literature on mindfulness and mindfulness-based interventions. Next, we present an operational definition of mindful parenting as an extension of mindfulness to the social context of parent–child relationships. We discuss the implications of mindful parenting for the quality of parent–child relationships, particularly across the transition to adolescence, and we review the literature on the application of mindfulness in parenting interventions. We close with a synopsis of our own efforts to integrate mindfulness-based intervention techniques and mindful parenting into a well-established, evidence-based family prevention program and our recommendations for future research on mindful parenting interventions.     

TOP‐DOWN AND BOTTOM‐UP: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFORMATION PROCESSING AND MINDFULNESS AS PREDICTORS IN MATERNAL–INFANT INTERACTION

The cross‐generational transmission of attachment appears to reflect a complex interplay of factors, which have been challenging to identify. The current longitudinal study explored the maternal cognitive model of relationships through language use, maternal mindfulness, and attachment style assessed prenatally, as predictors of maternal response to distress and infant behavior at 6 months’ postpartum. Infant behavior to the mother also was examined to provide an understanding of the evolving relationship. Thirty‐two females were interviewed prenatally regarding social and family experiences. At 6 months’ postpartum, each mother participated in a video‐recorded session where she was asked to teach her infant a developmentally appropriate task. Videos were analyzed using the NCAST Teaching Protocol. Language use prenatally as well as the mindfulness facets (acting with awareness and describing) predicted the mothers’ ability to respond to infant distress, indicating greater attunement. Infant's response to mother and clarity of cues also were predicted by maternal pronoun use. The study highlights the role of internal working models reflective of interpersonal beliefs, cognitive models, and current‐moment awareness in maternal behavior. The effect of maternal language on infant behavior arguably indicates the infant's integration of maternal internal working models.     

Nonverbal psychotherapy with infants

A psychoanalytically oriented nonverbal technique was developed to help four withdrawn infants. In three of the four cases, treatment began in the first year of life. Each case presents a different combination of infant/caregiver difficulties that contributed to the infant's withdrawal. After analysis of the difficulties in the infant's first relationship, appropriate preverbal sensory experiences served as a means to establish communication between mother and infant. Regression to the newborn stage gave mother and child a chance to reexperience the earliest stages of infancy. This process led to the recovery of the failing primary bond between mother and child and enabled the infants to compensate for constitutional deficits that prevented adequate attachment. Very early recognition and treatment of some mother-infant attachment disorders may prevent emotional withdrawal, functional retardation, and failure to form meaningful relationships.     

The Association Between Reflective Functioning and Parent–Child Relationship Quality

Research consistently links adult and infant attachment styles, yet the means by which attachment is transmitted is relatively elusive. Recently, attention has been directed to the psychological underpinnings of caregiver sensitivity—originally thought to be the mechanism of transmission—as indicated by caregivers’ ability to keep in mind children’s mental states when interpreting children’s behavior, or reflective functioning. Unfortunately for researchers, extant measures of reflective functioning are time-consuming and require extensive observation and coding. A self-report measure could help facilitate the study and assessment of reflective functioning in research and clinical settings. This study investigated the relationship between parental reflective functioning and multiple aspects of the parent–child relationship, by using a new, self-report measure of reflective functioning. Participants were 79 caregivers (M _age = 31.8 years) who completed self-report measures assessing reflective functioning, parent–child relationship characteristics, perceived rejection in early relationships, attachment anxiety and avoidance in current close relationships, depression, and substance use. The results indicated that reflective functioning is a strong predictor of parent–child relationship quality (i.e., parental involvement, communication, parent satisfaction, limit setting, and parental support), independent of other potential indicators. Findings support parental reflective functioning as a contributor to the quality of parent–child relationship and suggest that a parent’s capacity to reflect on the mental states of his or her child in parent–child interactions may provide a key target for interventions that aim to improve parent–child relationships.     

Children's Adjustment in a Climate of Political Violence: Comparing Mother and Child Reports

There is a dearth of research on parent and child reports regarding a parent’s parenting and its contribution to a child’s adjustment. Therefore, the current study examined: (a) the differences between mother and child reports of aspects of maternal parenting (i.e., care and control), among both boys and girls; (b) which parenting report (i.e., mother’s or child’s) makes a stronger contribution to mother and child reports of the child’s adjustment in the context of political violence. One hundred and twenty-one mother-child dyads (children aged seven to 12 years old (M?=?10.02, SD?=?1.03)), who were exposed to prolonged political violence, participated in this study. Maternal care and control were assessed by mother and child reports on the Parental Bonding Instrument. Child’s adjustment was assessed both by mother’s report of child’s total difficulties and child’s self-report of posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Results revealed that both the mothers of girls and the girls themselves reported higher care, in comparison to mothers of boys and the boys themselves, while mothers of boys and the boys themselves reported higher control. Higher maternal control, as reported by the child, was associated with the child’s self-reported PTSS. Higher maternal control, as reported by the mother, was associated with the child’s total difficulties, as reported by the mother. However, maternal care, whether reported by mother or child, was not found to be associated with the child’s adjustment. School-aged children and their mothers were in agreement regarding maternal dimensions and their contribution to children’s adjustment.     

祖辈共同养育背景下多重依恋关系及对幼儿社会-情绪性发展的影响

采用依恋Q-Set分类程序考察72名幼儿(M=17.51个月)的母子依恋和祖孙依恋的安全性,用《婴幼儿社会-情绪性评价量表》(ITSEA)同时评估了幼儿的社会-情绪性(包括外显行为域、内隐行为域、失调域和能力域)的发展状况。结果发现:(1)在祖辈参与共同养育的背景下,大多数幼儿可以形成安全型的母子依恋和祖孙依恋,母子依恋的安全性高于祖孙依恋;(2)母子依恋和祖孙依恋存在着中等强度的相关,36%幼儿的母子依恋和祖孙依恋的安全性水平不一致;(3)回归分析表明,与祖孙依恋的安全性相比,母子依恋的安全性对幼儿的社会-情绪性发展的各领域具有更大的相对预测力,支持主导性假说;(4)拥有高安全性母子依恋和祖孙依恋的幼儿,其外显行为域和内隐行为域的得分显著低于其他3组,高安全性母子依恋或祖孙依恋不能补偿对方的低安全性依恋的消极影响。在失调域上,母子依恋和祖孙依恋的安全性存在着交互效应。     

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.     

Social learning in the digital age: Associations between technoference,mother-child attachment,and child social skills

Technoference refers to incidents in which technology use interferes with interpersonal exchanges (e.g., conversations, playing). Although research on technoference is in its infancy, there is preliminary evidence that mothers believe technoference has a detrimental impact on the social-emotional functioning of their child. The current study investigated the degree to which technoference was associated with attachment between mothers and their elementary-aged children. A second aim was to determine if the relationship between technoference and children's social-emotional functioning may be moderated by mother-child attachment. Surveys were completed by a sample of 80 mothers and their elementary-aged children. This study is unique in asking elementary-aged children to report their perceptions of parental technoference and the impact it has on their relationship with their mother and their own social-emotional functioning. More frequent technoference was associated with less secure mother-child attachment as rated by children, but not as rated by mothers. That is, frequent technoference may not significantly influence a mother's attachment to their child, but it is associated with a child's attachment to their mother. More frequent technoference was associated with decreased ratings by mothers regarding their child's social-emotional functioning. Furthermore, maternal attachment moderated the relationship between technoference and child externalizing behaviors, such that a more secure attachment served as a protective factor against the negative impact of technoference on child externalizing behaviors. However, attachment did not moderate the relationship between technoference and most social skills assessed in our study. Implications from this study are discussed, including ways to increase awareness of technoference among school personnel, parents, and youth.     

Parental Support for Autonomy and Child Depressive Symptoms in Middle Childhood: The Mediating Role of Parent–Child Attachment

To facilitate understanding of the factors associated with child depressive symptoms in middle childhood, we examined the roles of parental support for autonomy and parent–child attachment in child depressive symptoms among 150 Chinese parent–child dyads. The participating children’s ages ranged from 6 to 12 years old. Parental support for autonomy was coded from a conflict resolution and a cooperation task. Children reported their depressive symptoms and their attachment relationships with the participating parents. After controlling for parent depressive symptoms, parental support for autonomy was associated with fewer child depressive symptoms. The association between parental support for autonomy and child depressive symptoms was mediated by parent–child attachment quality, suggesting that parental support for autonomy was negatively associated with child depressive symptoms through its positive association with parent–child attachment quality. Moreover, the positive association between parental support for autonomy and parent–child attachment quality was stronger for older children. The current study expanded the knowledge on parental support for autonomy in middle-childhood and its association with parent–child relationships and child mental health. Future research is encouraged to pay more attention to the role of parental support for autonomy in various aspects of child development for children in middle-childhood and pre-adolescence.     

Attachment and Autism: Parental Attachment Representations and Relational Behaviors in the Parent-Child Dyad

While attachment research has demonstrated that parents’ internal working models of attachment relationships tend to be transmitted to their children, affecting children’s developmental trajectories, this study specifically examines associations between adult attachment status and observable parent, child, and dyadic behaviors among children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders of relating and communicating. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was employed to derive parental working models of attachment relationships. The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) was used to determine the quality of relational and functional behaviors in parents and their children. The sample included parents and their 4- to 16-year-old children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders. Hypothesized relationships between AAI classifications and FEAS scores were supported. Significant correlations were found between AAI classification and FEAS scores, indicating that children with autism spectrum disorders whose parents demonstrated secure attachment representations were better able to initiate and respond in two-way pre-symbolic gestural communication; organize two-way social problem-solving communication; and engage in imaginative thinking, symbolic play, and verbal communication. These findings lend support to the relevance of the parent’s state of mind pertaining to attachment status to child and parent relational behavior in cases wherein the child has been diagnosed with autism or an associated neurodevelopmental disorder of relating and communicating. A model emerges from these findings of conceptualizing relationships between parental internal models of attachment relationships and parent-child relational and functional levels that may aid in differentiating interventions.     

Parental Practices and Theory of Mind Development

In the past three decades, psychologists have become increasingly interested in the study of theory of mind. This ability involves an understanding of different components of the mind (e.g., emotions, thoughts, beliefs) and of how they are related to human behavior. Several parents’ characteristics (e.g., attachment, mental-state talk) have been associated to children’s theory-of-mind development, but the variables and methods adopted are diverse and at times lead to inconsistent findings. The goal of the present paper, therefore, is to provide a literature review that can point both to possible ways in which discrepancies might be overcome and to promising research directions. Our review covers 78 research reports published in English between 1980 and 2011. Only empirical studies, using children as participants, were included in the review. Three main suggestions are offered for researchers, parents and practitioners on how to nurture young children’s understanding of mind: (a) to treat children as intentional agents, acting in a sensitive and responsive fashion to their mental states; (b) to speak to children about mental states in an elaborate and connected way, pointing out their causes and consequences, and explaining that these may be different for different people; and (c) to expose children to a wide range of emotions while being careful to not express over-frequent and inconsistent negative affect. One limitation of the present review, however, is that we do not look into how parental practices interact with certain individual characteristics of the child (e.g., personality, IQ and language skills). Future research should explore the multifaceted nature of these relationships and interactions.     

蒙汉族大学生父母教养方式、成人依恋与心理困扰的关系研究

通过整群抽样方法抽取了576名大学生,对其施测父母养育方式量表、亲密关系体验量表和心理困扰量表,运用结构方程模型技术,分别考察了父母养育方式的蒙汉族差异以及成人依恋模式在父母养育方式和心理困扰间的中介作用。结果表明:(1) 蒙古族父母对孩子的关爱程度和给孩子的自主性要显著高于汉族;(2) 汉族的成人依恋模式在父母过度保护与抑郁-焦虑-压力之间起着部分中介作用,而蒙古族成人依恋的中介作用不明显,但母亲的冷漠拒绝和过度保护会导致个体依恋回避和依恋焦虑,父亲的冷漠拒绝和过度保护会影响个体的抑郁和焦虑,母亲的过度保护和父亲的冷漠拒绝会影响个体的压力。     

学步儿童的不顺从行为与亲子互动的关系

通过对138名学步儿童及其母亲的观察研究,分析儿童的不顺从行为与亲子互动之间的关系。结果表明:(1)在亲子互动中,母亲的言语策略多于身体策略。(2)母亲的模糊言语显著地正向预测儿童的反抗,母亲的远处身体指导显著地正向预测消极不顺从。(3)母亲的反应性与明晰言语、模糊言语、积极身体指导和远处身体指导正相关,与严厉言语和消极身体指导负相关。(4)儿童反应性负向预测消极不顺从和拒绝/协商行为。     

Reflecting on a journey of resilience in children’s blood and cancer nursing

Reflective practice is recognised as an integral part of being a highly skilled and successful health care professional. Many benefits have been identified from being a reflective practitioner including the opportunity for critical thinking, growing self-awareness and supporting individual resilience. There is a growing body of literature recognising the negative emotional impact that caring for children with cancer and blood disorders can have on health professionals. Currently there is an emerging interest in a more strengths-based approach focused on maintaining staff wellbeing. Resilience has been suggested as a framework for coping and maintaining wellbeing in areas, like children’s oncology and has been used as a term to describe the ‘surviving’ health professional. This paper explores the first author’s (GA) experiences of being a children’s oncology nurse and paediatric palliative care nurse specialist in the context of existing empirical and theoretical literature, with a particular focus on how GA developed resilience. Reflective examples of practice are used within the context of themes identified from a recent literature review exploring how resilience is defined within empirical literature.     

Emotion Regulation of Preschool Children in Foster Care: The Influence of Maternal Depression and Parenting

Emotion regulation is a core developmental process that is related to children’s academic success and mental health. A small body of research has documented that maltreated children show deficits in this developmental arena. The current study was designed to add to the limited literature on emotion regulation in maltreated children in foster care. Emotion regulation tasks were administered to preschool foster children, videotaped, and later coded. Parenting was assessed via coded observations of mother-child interactions. Mothers reported on their experience of depressive symptomatology. We examined the relation of foster parenting and foster mother depression, as well as child characteristics and child welfare experiences, to emotion regulation, specifically in the joy and anger domains. Findings revealed that maternal depression and parental structuring significantly contributed to children’s anger regulation, but not to their regulation of joy. These findings are considered in the context of future research with respect to young maltreated children in foster care.