Basic needs and complexes: similarities between feeling‐toned complexes,emotional schema and affective states

The aim of this paper is to examine feeling‐toned complexes from a developmental psychological perspective. From this perspective feeling‐toned complexes emerge when basic needs are not met. A very similar theory is put forward by Jeffery Young in his Schema Therapy (Young, Klosko, & Weishaar 2005). His basic needs concept, developed on the basis of empirical research, covers four basic needs which are: attachment, autonomy, and self‐worth, as well as play and spontaneity. My proposition is to deal with this conceptual view from a Jungian perspective insofar as we can integrate the four basic needs, however adding a fifth: the basic need for meaning in the theory of feeling‐toned complexes. Emotional schemas and feeling‐toned complexes are then comparable patterns. The strengths and weaknesses of Analytic Psychology compared to Jeffrey Young's schema therapy are further discussed. The foundation of the feeling‐toned complexes on unmet basic needs lends itself to including a further reference, namely Jaak Panksepp’s neuroscientific findings. Panksepp formulates seven basic affective systems which I discuss first, then I focus on what could be gained from the basic needs concept and finally I turn to the feeling‐complex in an attempt to integrate neuroscientific findings into complex theory.     

Case–contrast study about parent–infant interaction in a Brazilian sample of siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders

Siblings of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) present greater susceptibility to developmental problems, in comparison with siblings of typically developing children. The greater prevalence of mental health disorders among parents of children with ASD increases younger siblings’ vulnerability to emotional problems. The aim of this study is to compare the interaction between carers and babies aged 2 to 26 months (M = 11.7, SD = 6.9) who are siblings of children with ASD (ASD dyads) with the interaction of dyads of siblings of typically developing children (TD dyads). The protocol of Clinical Indicators of Risk for Child Development and the Coding Interactive Behaviour measures were used to evaluate interaction. ASD dyads presented higher scores of constriction in their interaction, P = .024, with babies presenting higher scores of withdrawal behavior, P = .003, and carers presenting higher scores of depressive mood, P = .008, when compared to TD dyads. The ASD dyads have interactive impairments more frequently than do the TD dyads.     

THE MAGIC OF PLAY: LOW‐INCOME MOTHERS’ AND FATHERS’ PLAYFULNESS AND CHILDREN'S EMOTION REGULATION AND VOCABULARY SKILLS

Using data from a diverse sample of low‐income families who participated in the Early Head Start Research Evaluation Project (n = 73), we explored the association between mothers’ and fathers’ playfulness with toddlers, toddler's affect during play, and children's language and emotion regulation at prekindergarten. There were two main findings. First, fathers’ playfulness in toddlerhood was associated with children's vocabulary skills in prekindergarten whereas mothers’ playfulness was related to children's emotion regulation. Cross‐parental effects were found only for mothers. The association between mothers’ playfulness and children's vocabulary and emotion regulation was strengthened when fathers engaged in more pretend play and when children were affectively positive during the play. These findings show that playfulness is an important source of variation in the vocabulary and emotion regulation of children growing up in low‐income families. They also point to domain‐specific ways that mothers and fathers promote children's regulatory and vocabulary skills, and highlight the importance of children's positive engagement in play.     

IS REFLECTIVE SUPERVISION ENOUGH? AN EXPLORATION OF WORKFORCE PERSPECTIVES

Infant mental health practice requires the performance of intense emotional labor. Professionals comprising the infant mental health (IMH) field are largely women at seminal points in adult life‐span development. The purpose of this article is to explore the day‐to‐day challenges faced by clinical infant mental health professionals and their perspectives on the supports available for effective job performance. We review reflective supervision as a long‐cherished professional support in the IMH field designed to hold the practitioner's fears, worries, and ambivalence, so that she may return to the work fortified to remain in therapeutic alliance with families despite unsolvable problems and an unknowable future (Weatherston, D., 2009). Yet, we propose that reflective supervision alone may not be an adequate protective measure for a workforce performing intensive emotional labor for extended periods and therefore at potentially increased risk for burnout and high turnover (Hochschild, A.R. 1983 ; C. Maslach, 1982 , C.M. Brotheridge & A.A. Grandey, 2009; A.S. Wharton, 2009 ). We suggest that structural factors concerning organizational culture, flexibility in scheduling, and professional growth and versatility bear deeper examination for their merits in supporting the IMH workforce. Finally, we contend that the overrepresentation of women in practitioner positions in IMH leaves an empirical gap where little is known about the experience of male IMH practitioners and the ramifications of their performance of emotional labor.     

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers in a community-based setting: Improvements in parenting behavior,emotional availability,child behavior,and attachment

Parent–Child Interaction Therapy with Toddlers (PCIT-T) is a new attachment-based parenting intervention designed to meet the needs of children aged 12–24 months presenting with challenging behaviors. This study examined outcomes of the first phase of PCIT-T, Child Directed Interaction–Toddler (CDI-T), 4-months post treatment. Participants were 56 toddlers (Child Mage = 19.13 months) referred to receive CDI-T over an 8-week period at an Australian community-based child behavior treatment clinic for treatment of difficult toddler behaviors. Participants completed questionnaires and observational measures at baseline (Time 1), post-treatment (Time 2), and 4-month follow-up (Time 3). At both Time 2 and Time 3, there were statistically significant increases in observed positive parenting skills and emotional availability and decreases in negative parenting behaviors and child noncompliance. There were also significant improvements in parent-reported child externalizing and internalizing behaviors, parental stress, and maternal depression. There was a pattern of a shift away from attachment insecurity and attachment disorganization. Results suggest that the CDI-T phase of PCIT-T is a promising intervention for toddlers presenting with behavioral issues. Future studies should be conducted to assess efficacy in other settings, using larger samples and utilizing randomized controlled designs.     

PARENTAL CHILDHOOD ADVERSITY,DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS,AND PARENTING QUALITY: EFFECTS ON TODDLER SELF‐REGULATION IN CHILD WELFARE SERVICES INVOLVED FAMILIES

Parents who are involved with child welfare services (CWSI) often have a history of childhood adversity and depressive symptoms. Both affect parenting quality, which in turn influences child adaptive functioning. We tested a model of the relations between parental depression and child regulatory outcomes first proposed by K. Lyons‐Ruth, R. Wolfe, A. Lyubchik, and R. Steingard (2002). We hypothesized that both parental depression and parenting quality mediate the effects of parental early adversity on offspring regulatory outcomes. Participants were 123 CWSI parents and their toddlers assessed three times over a period of 6 months. At Time 1, parents reported on their childhood adversity and current depressive symptoms. At Time 2, parents’ sensitivity to their child's distress and nondistress cues was rated from a videotaped teaching task. At Time 3, observers rated children's emotional regulation, orientation/engagement, and secure base behavior. The results of a path model partly supported the hypotheses. Parent childhood adversity was associated with current depressive symptoms, which in turn related to parent sensitivity to child distress, but not nondistress. Sensitivity to distress also predicted secure base behavior. Depression directly predicted orientation/engagement, also predicted by sensitivity to nondistress. Sensitivity to distress predicted emotion regulation and orientation/engagement. Results are discussed in terms of intervention approaches for CWSI families.     

FATHER PLAY: IS IT SPECIAL?

Both mothers and fathers play with their children, but research on parent–child play interactions is conducted with mothers three times more often than it is with fathers. The articles in this special issue address this gap by focusing on the nature and quality of father–child play, across cultural contexts, and considering whether father play offers something unique and special for early human development, in infancy or early childhood. The studies show that fathers can be just as developmentally supportive as are mothers in terms of being playful and engaged with their children in ways that are related to greater child socioemotional competence, emotion regulation, and vocabulary, and to less aggression, anxiety, and negativity. We encourage future research to examine the cultural influences, family system dynamics, and specificity of timing and types of father–child play in relation to children's developmental competence.     

UNDERSTANDING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN ATTACHMENT TRAUMA AND MATERNAL SELF‐EFFICACY IN DEPRESSED MOTHERS

Maternal self‐efficacy predicts sensitive and responsive caregiving. Low maternal self‐efficacy is associated with a higher incidence of postpartum depression. Maternal self‐efficacy and postpartum depression can both be buffered by social support. Maternal self‐efficacy and postpartum depression have both been linked independently, albeit in separate studies, to the experience of violent trauma, childhood maltreatment, and spousal abuse. This study proposed a model in which postpartum depression mediates the relation between attachment trauma and maternal self‐efficacy, with emotional support as a moderator. Participants were 278 first‐time mothers of infants under 14 months. Cross‐sectional data were collected online. Mothers completed questionnaires on attachment trauma, maternal self‐efficacy, postpartum depression, and emotional support. A moderated mediation model was tested in a structural equation modeling framework using Mplus’ estimate of indirect effects. Postpartum depression fully mediated the relation between trauma and maternal self‐efficacy. Emotional support moderated only the pathway between postpartum depression and maternal self‐efficacy. Attachment trauma's implications for maternal self‐efficacy should be understood in the context of overall mental health. Mothers at the greatest risk for low maternal self‐efficacy related to attachment trauma also are those suffering from postpartum depression. Emotional support buffered mothers from postpartum depression, though, which has implications for intervention and future research.