Possible contribution of better maternal psychological well-being to the acquisition of sleeping through the night in infants during the early postpartum period

The objective of this study was to elucidate whether better maternal psychological well-being contributes to the acquisition of “sleeping through the night” (STN) in infants during the early postpartum period. Fifty-two primiparous mothers completed the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) in the third trimester (prenatal) and when the conceptional ages of their babies reached 8–9 weeks (hereafter, 2 months), 12–13 weeks (3 months), and 16–17 weeks (4 months). They also recorded babies’ nocturnal sleep patterns in a timetable for 5 consecutive days each month postpartum. “Regular STN” was defined when the mean of longest nocturnal sleep duration for 5 consecutive days was > 8 h or between 6 and 8 h with < 1.0 nocturnal awakenings. According to these criteria, a total of 14 infants (27 %) acquired regular STN at 4 months (referred to as “STN infants”), with STN infants showing a marked increase in longest nocturnal sleep duration and a decrease in nocturnal awakenings from 2 to 3 months of age. The mothers of STN infants demonstrated steady reductions in postnatal GHQ-28 scores and had significantly lower prenatal GHQ-28 scores compared with the mothers of non-STN infants (3.7 ± 3.0 vs. 6.4 ± 4.1, p = 0.027). In random forest models for binomial classification, both prenatal and postnatal (at 4 months) GHQ-28 scores were identified as significant covariates for distinguishing STN infants, and other important covariates, including weeks of delivery, stepfamily, birth weight of the infant, and maternal co-sleeping at bedtime, were selected. Among these covariates, maternal co-sleeping at bedtime had relatively stronger correlations with both STN infants (r = − 0.440) and prenatal maternal GHQ-28 scores (r = 0.377). In conclusion, because prenatal maternal psychological well-being was thought to predict the acquisition of STN in infants, infants born from mothers with better psychological well-being appear to have some advantages in acquiring STN. These cross-lagged correlations suggest that the pathway from mothers to infants may be mediated by certain parenting behaviors, such as maternal co-sleeping at bedtime.     

MOTHERS AS EFFECTIVE THERAPISTS FOR AUTISTIC CHILDREN'S PHOBIAS

Two autistic children were treated for specific fears. A three-component participant modeling procedure was implemented within a multiple baseline design across subjects. Children were exposed gradually to fearful situations, with mothers serving as therapists and reinforcers. Dependent measures were (a) number of approach steps completed, (b) frequency of verbalizations and vocalizations of fear, and (c) overall appearance of fear. Following treatment, the children functioned effectively in previously fearful situations without verbalizations or appearance of fear. Five-month and 1-year follow-up assessments with 1 child showed maintenance of treatment effects.     

No regrets: Custodial mothers' accounts of the difficulties and benefits of divorce

This study examines the accounts of 80 divorced single mothers in order to consider various emotional processes involved in the mothers' postdivorce family reorganization. A qualitative analysis was conducted on written responses to an open-ended question. Concerns tended to center around how the divorce had affected the children as well as various difficulties associated with single parenting. Loss and guilt on the part of many mothers was tempered by positive attributions about how divorce actually gave way to greater personal happiness, better parent-child relationships, and more rewarding lives. Focusing on the benefits of divorce appeared to be an important means of coping with many of the problems inherent in single parenting. Implications for treatment are discussed from an ecological perspective which emphasizes the therapist's role in helping mothers to create contexts of support.This research was funded in part by grant number 9103 from the Women's Research Institute, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.     

抑郁者操作任务中目标设立与自我评价的特点

参加研究的被试包括：抑郁性神经症组（２０人）,抑郁症组（１３人）,正常对照组（２９人）。所有被试在完成独粒钻石棋作业的前后对其作业目标进行了估计,并在作业后对操作的满意程度进行了评价,对影响操作者的因素进行了归因,研究所得到的主要结果为（１）抑郁者在操作任务前的目标设立与正常人或抑郁者相似。（２）实际作业成绩与效能感得分相关,（３）抑郁症,抑郁性神经症相被试消极的自我归因倾向明显高于正常组。     

Cuban Mothers' Schemas of ADHD: Development, Characteristics, and Help Seeking Behavior

Parents play a crucial role in the diagnosis and treatment of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), one of the most prevalent developmental disorders of young children We report the findings of a qualitative study of Cuban-American mothers of 7 to 10 year old children with ADHD. Results suggest that mothers lacked a cultural model for ADHD and held a cultural model of normal child development which hampered their development of a schema of ADHD. Development of ADHD schemas were motivated by perplexity at their children's behavior and by the high value mothers ascribed to academic achievement. Although the schemas developed by the mothers were labeled as ADHD, their behavioral characterizations of their children, their attributions for the condition and for its causes, and their management strategies were not always in agreement with those of the biomedical model for the condition. However, once mothers classified their children's behavior as atypical, they actively sought assistance from the professional sector.     

Let Me Tell You About My Mother: Two Daughters Re-Story and Restore Their Aging Mothers

Two daughters undertake to restory their aging Jewish mothers. Their projects serve as a demystification of motherhood, as an insight into the ever-changing mother-daughter relationship, and as a way to restore a parent whose life story is being masked by the facade of aging. Kim Chernin's In My Mother's House (1983) chronicles the life of Rose Chernin, Communist activist, while Vivian Gornick's Fierce Attachments (1987) focuses on a woman who spent most of her life in a Bronx tenement. Both writers are children of powerful mothers to whom they are strongly connected, and their writing describes their ongoing struggle to separate from these women. Gornick and Chernin become the bearers of family histories which will be passed on to the next generation, and a voice for first-generation woman whose stories have never been told.     

母亲的情景特异性归因与儿童问题行为:儿童消极情绪的调节作用

以67对3~6岁的儿童及其母亲为研究对象,通过假设情景法探索母亲对不同情景下儿童问题行为的归因方式,并考察这种特定情景下的归因对儿童后续问题行为的影响,以及儿童消极情绪的调节作用。研究发现:(1)母亲对儿童不同问题行为的稳定性归因和不可控归因存在情景上的差异;(2)母亲的不可控归因和稳定性归因可以影响儿童内隐问题行为的发展且受到儿童消极情绪的影响,但母亲的归因方式不可以预测儿童的外显问题行为。     

“I find peace there”: how faith,church, and spirituality help mothers of colour cope with postpartum depression

This article reports the findings of 30 semi-structured, qualitative interviews with new African American and Latina mothers who have histories of postpartum depression (PPD) to learn how their faith, church participation, and spiritual practices helped them cope with PPD. Six themes emerged: relief from stress, feeling valued and less alone, experiencing gratitude, developing perspective and accepting God’s guidance, changing and developing relationships, and preventing self-harm. Specifically, mothers who adhered to their faith beliefs and engaged in spiritual practices described shifts in their perspectives on various life stressors known to contribute to PPD such as negative thoughts and feelings, and strained family relationships, which in turn led them to make positive changes in their lives.