Complex in memory,mind in matter: walking hand in hand

This paper aims to highlight four major points: first: a ‘Jungian attitude’ understood as a viewpoint which enables work with interconnectedness through various fields of knowledge. Second, that complexes are dynamic, as is memory, and that both are transformed by experience and develop hand in hand with each other i.e., the transformation of the complex occurs through the transformation of memory as embodied in internal working models, and vice versa. Third, complexes and archetypes are linked to each other in matrices of one form or another and lead to the complexity of the psyche, which is a developing system. Fourth, the analytical process provides an arena that enables and consolidates interconnections that foster a better intrapsychic transition. The analytic meeting promotes profound changes, redesigning our neural architecture as well as our psychic landscape.     

POSTPARTUM BONDING DIFFICULTIES AND ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLES: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION AND CHILDBIRTH‐RELATED PTSD

Despite decades of research demonstrating the role of adult attachment styles and early mother–infant bonding in parenting behaviors and maternal mental health, these constructs have seldom been studied together. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and specific bonding difficulties of mothers. In addition, as postpartum depression and childbirth‐related posttraumatic stress symptoms have been associated with both constructs, we explored their possible mediation effect. One hundred fourteen mothers, 4 to 12 weeks’ postpartum, completed a demographic questionnaire, the Adult Attachment Style Questionnaire (M. Mikulincer, V. Florian, & A. Tolmacz, 1990), the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (L.F. Brockington, C. Fraser, & D. Wilson, 2006), the Modified Perinatal Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Questionnaire (J.L. Callahan, S.E. Borja, & M.T. Hynan, 2006), and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (J.L. Cox, G. Chapman, D. Murray, & P. Jones, 1996), using an online survey system. As predicted, insecure attachment styles were associated with bonding difficulties wherein anxious/ambivalent attachment was associated with greater infant‐focused anxiety, mediated by postpartum depression but not childbirth‐related PTSD symptoms. In contrast, greater avoidant attachment style was associated with greater rejection and anger, mediated by childbirth‐related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but not depression symptoms. The current study confirmed the association of different attachment styles with bonding as well as the mediating roles of childbirth‐related PTSD and postpartum depression symptoms. Future psychological interventions may utilize such evidence to target interventions for bonding disorders in accordance with individual differences.     

ATTACHMENT IN INFANTS WITH CLEFT LIP AND/OR PALATE: MARGINAL SECURITY AND ITS CHANGES OVER TIME

This study examines the attachment quality and how this changed over time among infants who had cleft lip and palate (CLP), by conducting a prospective longitudinal study addressing the effects of this type of perinatal event on the parent–infant relationship and the emotional development of the infants. At 12 months of age, the Strange Situation Paradigm (SSP; M. Ainsworth, M.C. Blehar, E. Waters, & T. Wall, 1978) was administered to a sample of 38 CLP infants (born between 2003 and 2010) and 17 healthy controls. At 4 years of age, the Attachment Story Completion Task (ASCT; I. Bretherton, D. Ridgeway, & J. Cassidy, 1990) was administered to 32 individuals from the CLP sample and 14 from the control group. As reported in the literature, CLP infants display secure attachment behaviors as frequently as do control infants (55%). However, a more detailed analysis of the attachment scales revealed that CLP infants show more avoidance and less proximity seeking. In addition, a closer examination of the subcategories of attachment styles revealed that most CLP infants (71%) displayed distal attachment strategies such as the B1/B2 or A1/A2 subcategories. At 4 years old, CLP infants clearly displayed more deactivation and less security than did the control sample. Moreover, when detailing the evolution of attachment individually, almost 60% of the CLP children showing distal strategies at 12 months became deactivated or disorganized when they reached 4 years. Indeed, subtle differences in attachment behaviors at 12 months old—which can be considered marginally secure at that age—may reveal attachment vulnerabilities, which seem to be more apparent over the course of development.     

DOES FATHERS' PRENATAL MENTAL HEALTH BEAR A RELATIONSHIP TO PARENTING STRESS AT 6 MONTHS?

This study aimed to explore fathers’ mental health and retrospectively reported adverse childhood experiences during pregnancy, as well as various pathways predicting self‐reported stress at 6 months’ postpartum as assessed by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI; R.R. Abidin, 1990 ). A total of 835 fathers contributed data to the study. Data collection comprised five time points during pregnancy and one at 6 months’ postpartum. The main analyses were performed using linear regression and path analyses. First, linear regression analyses showed that paternal anxiety symptoms during pregnancy predicted stress scores in the PSI child domain at 6 months (coefficient = 0.36). Second, path analyses showed that depressive symptoms during pregnancy predicted parenting stress in the child domain, mediated by spousal disharmony at 6 months’ postpartum (coefficient = 0.77). Third, adverse childhood experiences scores predicted parenting stress in the child domain by two different pathways: one mediated by anxiety symptoms in pregnancy (coefficient = 0.29) and the other by depressive symptoms in pregnancy and experienced spousal disharmony at 6 months’ postpartum (coefficient = 0.77). The findings suggest that fathers’ symptoms of anxiety and depression during pregnancy as well as adverse childhood experiences predict paternal stress and a negative perception of their children's behavior at 6 months’ postpartum.     

SAFE START: AN EARLY CHILDHOOD MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM IN A TERTIARY HEALTHCARE SETTING—A CRITICAL REVIEW

Early childhood mental health programs are vital for the current and future mental health and brain development of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers. Founded in 2014, Safe Start is the only early childhood mental health program in Beirut, Lebanon. It aims at being the prototype of such services at the national level. A retrospective analysis of the outcomes of the first year of operations has resulted in important findings about the age of the participants, their diagnoses, previous therapies that the participants have undergone, types of referrals recommended, and the number of participants who were lost to follow‐up. This first analysis pointed at the need for more in‐depth research to encompass the gaps and benefits of such services. It shows the pivotal importance of designing awareness strategies about the importance of early childhood mental health services and care; to move from a diagnostic seeking behavior to commitment to psychotherapy and follow‐up 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.     

Joint Physical Custody and Adolescents’ Life Satisfaction in 37 North American and European Countries

Joint physical custody, a parental care arrangement in which a child lives with each parent about equally after separation or divorce, is an increasingly common phenomenon in many Western countries. Although attention from family scholars, practitioners, and law professionals is growing, there are hardly any numbers on the prevalence of joint physical custody (JPC). Moreover, studies using large‐scale representative data on the effects of JPC for children’s well‐being are still rare. The data for this study come from Health Behaviour in School‐Aged Children (HBSC), a representative cross‐national survey of adolescents in 37 European and North American countries that was conducted in 2002, 2006, and 2010 and included information on students at the ages of 11, 13, and 15 years (N = 92,886). First, results revealed that symmetrical JPC after family dissolution is still very rare in the majority of countries (5% or less), but reaches 10–20% in some countries. Second, adolescents’ life satisfaction in nonintact families is higher in symmetric JPC arrangements than in asymmetric care arrangements. However, after controlling for children and family characteristics, the differences disappear. Thus, it is not the symmetric JPC arrangement that induces adolescents’ higher life satisfaction, but rather the children and family characteristics that are associated with the choice of such a custody arrangement by separated or divorced parents.     

Parent–Child Conflict Profiles in Chinese American Immigrant Families: Links to Sociocultural Factors and School‐Age Children's Psychological Adjustment

Research suggests that parent–child conflict is a salient family process in Asian immigrant families and often a stressful experience for Asian American youth due to value discrepancies between Asian and Western cultures. The present study examined ratings of parent–child conflict across conflict topics from parents' and children's perspectives in a sample of Chinese American immigrant families with school‐age children (N = 239; age = 7.5–11 years). Latent profile analyses identified three parent‐rated conflict profiles and four child‐rated conflict profiles. Parent and child conflict profiles were unrelated to each other and differentially related to family sociocultural factors and children's psychological adjustment. Parents' moderate conflict profile scored highest on parent‐rated child behavior problems and had the highest household density and lower parent Chinese orientation. Children's moderate‐specific and high conflict profiles scored higher on child‐reported behavior problems than the low conflict profile. These results highlight the need to assess family conflict from both parents' and children's perspectives and target parent–child conflict communication as a pathway to prevent or reduce behavioral problems in Chinese American children of immigrant families.     

Heteronormative Relationship Education for Same‐Gender Couples

In recent years, same‐gender group‐based relationship education has emerged as a viable intervention to prevent relationship distress among same‐gender couples. However, many of these programs are conducted in metropolitan areas and lack the ability to reach rural populations. The current study sought to investigate whether two wide‐reaching web‐based heteronormative relationship education programs could positively impact same‐gender relationships. In a sample of 49 same‐gender couples, heteronormative relationship education had small (Cohen's d = 0.16–0.39) but reliably positive effects on key areas of relationship functioning and perceived stress relative to a waitlist control group. Additionally, when same‐gender couples were matched with different‐gender individuals with similar baseline characteristics, no reliable differences between the two groups emerged even though the program effects were sometimes half as large for same‐gender couples. Finally, same‐gender participants were as satisfied with the program as the matched different‐gender individuals. Though the results of the present study indicate that heteronormative relationship education can be helpful for same‐gender couples, additional tailoring should be undertaken to ensure that same‐gender couples experience as much benefit as possible. Estimates from the current study could be used in future studies to detect what might be small‐sized differences.