Both maternal sensitivity and atypical maternal behavior independently predict attachment security and disorganization in adolescent mother-infant relationships

Extant theory holds that variation in attachment security is largely determined by caregiver sensitivity whereas disorganization has its roots in atypical interactions that frighten the infant. These hypotheses were confirmed in the current study of a high-risk sample but, contrary to current theory, both atypical maternal behavior and maternal sensitivity were also significant independent predictors of attachment disorganization and security.     

母亲守门行为与母亲教养投入、母子依恋的关系及发展性差异

基于家庭系统理论与依恋理论提出了一个母亲守门行为通过母亲教养投入预测母子依恋的间接效应模型, 同时考察了这一模型在青少年发展阶段上的差异。采用问卷法对597个核心家庭的母亲和青少年进行调查, 结果发现：(1)总体上, 母亲开门行为对母亲教养投入和母子依恋均具有正向预测作用, 母亲教养投入对母子依恋具有正向预测作用, 间接效应模型成立; 母亲关门行为对母亲教养投入的预测作用不显著, 对母子依恋具有负向预测作用, 间接效应模型不成立; (2)从发展阶段来看, 母亲开门行为的间接效应模型在三个发展阶段均成立, 且间接效应大小无差异; 母亲关门行为的间接效应模型只在早期和后期成立, 且两发展阶段的作用性质相反, 早期为正向预测作用, 后期为负向预测作用。结果补充和扩展了母亲守门行为的作用效果研究, 并且强调了青少年发展阶段在其中的作用, 对家庭教育实践具有一定的指导意义。     

父亲、母亲抚养压力在母亲抑郁和学龄前儿童内外部问题行为间的链式中介作用

研究旨在探讨父亲和母亲的抚养压力在母亲抑郁与学龄前儿童内、外部问题行为间的作用。以北京市某区75所幼儿园的2222名3~5岁在园幼儿及其父母为被试,采用《流调中心抑郁量表》、《抚养压力量表》、《学龄前儿童问题行为问卷》分别对母亲抑郁、父母抚养压力及儿童问题行为进行测查,结果发现：（1）母亲抑郁可以正向预测儿童的内、外部问题行为;（2）母亲抑郁对儿童内部问题行为的作用被"母亲抚养压力"、"母亲抚养压力-父亲抚养压力"两条路径部分中介;（3）母亲抑郁对儿童外部问题行为的作用被"母亲抚养压力"、"母亲抚养压力-父亲抚养压力"两条路径完全中介。综上,研究揭示了母亲抚养压力、父亲抚养压力在母亲抑郁和学龄前儿童内、外部问题行为间的链式中介作用。     

Self-Perceived Competence as a Mediator Between Maternal Feedback and Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents

Self-report, other-report, clinical interview, and behavioral observations of evaluative maternal feedback (e.g., positive feedback, criticism), adolescent depressive symptoms, and self-perceived competence were obtained from 72 adolescents and their mothers. Most path analyses supported the hypothesis that adolescent self-perceived competence completely mediates the relation between negative maternal feedback and adolescent depressive symptoms, even after controlling for prior levels of depression. Consistent with Cole's competency-based model of depression (D. A. Cole, 1990), these results suggest that high levels of negative maternal feedback (coupled with low levels of positive feedback) are associated with adolescent negative self-perceptions, which in turn place adolescents at risk for depressive symptoms.     

Bicuculline infusion into the accessory olfactory bulb facilitates the induction of maternal behavior in rats

The GABAA antagonist bicuculline, intracranially infused into the accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), facilitated the expression of maternal behavior (MB) in virgin Wistar female rats. Behavioral effects were observed 24 hours after infusion and were injection dependent. Pheromonal stimuli, generated by the pups, are thought to exert an inhibitory effect on vomeronasal nuclei involved in MB in virgin rats. The present study investigated the possibility that a decrement in AOB output, resulting from long-term compensatory synaptic changes to chronic bicuculline infusion, would facilitate the expression of MB. The implications of our findings for the mechanisms involved in the induction of MB and the maternal experience effect are discussed.     

The Effects of Family and Neighborhood Characteristics on the Behavioral and Cognitive Development of Poor Black Children: A Longitudinal Study

Using data from an ongoing study of 178 single-mother, Black families, this study investigates the relations among family resources (mothers' employment, income from employment, and educational attainment), maternal depressive symptoms, neighborhood quality in the preschool years and over time, and child developmental outcomes (behavior problems, broad reading, calculation) in the early school years. Results indicate that behavior problems in school-age children were associated with behavior problems early on, the child's gender, the mother's depressive symptoms and, to some extent, her employment status. However, these findings were conditioned by the mother's educational attainment and her evaluation of neighborhood problems early on. Better broad reading scores were associated with higher maternal educational attainment, especially for school-age girls of employed mothers, whereas higher calculation scores were predicted by fewer school-age behavior problems and, in the presence of higher neighborhood problems in the preschool years, mothers' higher educational attainment.     

Implications of Timing of Maternal Depressive Symptoms for Early Cognitive and Language Development

: Statistically, women, particularly pregnant women and new mothers, are at heightened risk for depression. The present review describes the current state of the research linking maternal depressed mood and children's cognitive and language development. Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms, whether during the prenatal period, postpartum period, or chronically, has been found to increase children's risk for later cognitive and language difficulties. The present review considers both the timing of maternal depression and the chronicity of mothers' depression on children's risk for cognitive and language delays. Infancy is frequently identified as a sensitive period in which environmental stimulation has the potential to substantially influence children's cognitive and language development. However, children's exposure to chronic maternal depression seems to be associated with more problematic outcomes for children, perhaps because depression interferes with mothers' ability to respond sensitively and consistently over time. Consistent with this expectation, interventions targeting parenting practices of depressed mothers have been found to increase children's cognitive competence during early childhood. The current review provides a synthesis of the current state of the field regarding the association between maternal depression and children's cognitive and language development during early childhood.     

Maternal Sensitivity and Anxiety: Impacts on Child Outcome

ABSTRACT

Children of anxious parents have been shown to be at an increased risk of developing an anxiety disorder. Thus, it is critically important to identify factors that increase or decrease that risk. The depression literature has shown that maternal sensitivity decreases negative child outcome associated with maternal depression. The current study was designed to determine whether maternal sensitivity may buffer children of anxious mothers in a similar way. Three hypotheses were tested. First, that anxious mothers would display less sensitivity than nonanxious mothers in interactions with their children; that there would be an interaction between sensitivity and anxiety on child outcome; and that sensitivity would account for variance in child outcome beyond that attributed to anxiety. One hundred and twenty-five mothers (75 anxious) and their children (ages 3–12) completed the study. Mothers were administered the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-IV and Parent, and a subset also completed the Beck Anxiety Inventory. Children completed the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule-Child. Dyads also engaged in two interaction tasks (one cognitive, one social) which were coded for maternal sensitivity and three child outcome behaviors. Results showed that anxious mothers displayed less sensitivity in the social task but not in the cognitive task. An interaction between anxiety and sensitivity was found only when predicting child negativity in the social task. Finally, maternal sensitivity was found to account for variance in child outcome beyond that of anxiety. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.     

Perceived Intrafamilial Connectedness and Autonomy in Families With and Without an Anxious Family Member: A Multiple Informant Approach

Perceived intrafamilial “emotional connectedness” and “autonomy” were investigated within families with and without an anxious family member using a multiple informant approach. The sample consisted of 32 mothers with a current anxiety disorder and 56 controls, their partners, and their anxious and nonanxious teenage children. No differences were found with respect to the perceived family relationships of family members with versus without anxious mothers. However, compared with nonanxious adolescents, anxious adolescents perceived less autonomy in relation to both parents. Mothers of anxious adolescents also perceived their children to be less autonomous toward them and their partners, than mothers of nonanxious adolescents. In contrast with “autonomy,” “emotional connectedness” was not reported to be different between families with and without an anxious adolescent. Agreement among family members and the importance of perceived individual autonomy in the development of anxiety are discussed.