Elian Fink, Sarah Foley, Wendy Browne, Claire Hughes
{"title":"Parental sensitivity and family conversation: A naturalistic longitudinal study with both mothers and fathers across three time-points in early infancy","authors":"Elian Fink, Sarah Foley, Wendy Browne, Claire Hughes","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22117","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22117","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Parental verbal sensitivity is known to promote child language skills, but few studies have considered: (a) links between global (i.e., verbal, behavioral, and affective) measures of parental sensitivity and infant-initiated conversations, an important precursor to language development; (b) whether maternal and paternal sensitivity show similar links with infant-initiated conversation; or (c) the transactional role of infant conversation for later parental sensitivity. Addressing these gaps, this study of 186 British first-time parents (93 families) examines the developmental dynamics between parental sensitivity and infant communication across the first year of life. We explore; (i) the role of maternal and paternal sensitivity (assessed during structured home observations at 4 months post-partum) for parent-infant conversational interactions at 7 months (indexed by day-long naturalistic recordings), and (ii) whether these mother-infant and father-infant conversations at 7 months shape maternal and paternal sensitivity at 14 months (also assessed via structured home observations). For both male and female infants, maternal (but not paternal) sensitivity at 4 months predicted infant vocalisations and conversational initiation at 7-months. By contrast, neither index of infant talk predicted maternal or paternal sensitivity at 14 months. Together these findings refine understanding of theoretical models of social development and suggest new possibilities for future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22117","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141082632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“You go in heavy and you come out light”: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of reflective practice experiences in an Irish infant mental health setting","authors":"Mary Tobin, Nicola O'Sullivan, Elaine Rogers","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22119","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22119","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Reflective practice (RP) is a core component of infant mental health (IMH); however, there is limited published empirical research on IMH practitioner experiences of RP. This two-stage, qualitative, multimodal study explored Irish IMH practitioners’ experiences of RP spaces. Visual and verbal data from seven individual interviews and a participatory arts-based focus group with seven participants (eight participants in total, all white Irish females) were analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Five group experiential themes (Just get on with it; What should I be bringing to this space?; Who are my “hands”?; Taking a step back; and You go in heavy and you come out light) were generated by the analysis. These were used to construct a developmental and experiential model of learning in an RP space. The themes portray how a practitioner's RP experience can change over time: influenced by prior experiences and practice development stage, practitioners move from initial uncertainty, anxiety, and perceived pressure in a busy workload to developing the trust and ability to be vulnerable in an RP space. Through relationships (supervisor/facilitator or group members), a shared safe space can be created, which addresses practitioners’ needs for containment, allowing for experiential learning through a process of transformational moments.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22119","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141082656","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Parental Reflective Functioning on the Parent Development Interview: A narrative review of measurement, association, and future directions","authors":"Arietta Slade, Michelle Sleed","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22114","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22114","url":null,"abstract":"<p>A caregiver's capacity to mentalize is thought to be one of the most important features of secure parent–child relationships. Parental mentalizing can be measured using the Reflective Functioning (RF) coding system applied to the Parent Development Interview (PDI). In this narrative review, we summarize the research using this measure and synthesize what has been learnt about the predictors, correlates and sequelae of parental RF. Studies have consistently shown that PRF on the PDI is associated with both parent and child attachment and is an important factor in the intergenerational transmission of attachment. It is also related to the quality of parental representations, parent–child interactions, and child outcomes. While a number of social and clinical risk factors are associated with lower PRF, it is difficult to disentangle the unique contribution of each of these. We discuss these findings and present the direction of future work that is planned to expand and refine the PRF scale for the PDI.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140675759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nicolas Berthelot, Karl Larouche, Julia Garon-Bissonnette, Kim Deschênes, Christine Drouin-Maziade, Roxanne Lemieux
{"title":"Spillover effects on the relationship with the partner of a mentalization-based intervention for pregnant women","authors":"Nicolas Berthelot, Karl Larouche, Julia Garon-Bissonnette, Kim Deschênes, Christine Drouin-Maziade, Roxanne Lemieux","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22113","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22113","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The birth of a child has been associated with a decline in couple satisfaction, which has implications for the child's social-emotional development. This study investigated the potential spillover effect on pregnant women's perceptions of their relationships with their partners of the Supporting the Transition to and Engagement in Parenthood (STEP) program, a brief trauma-informed mentalization-based prenatal group intervention. Participants (94% White) were recruited in prenatal clinics and through online advertisements in Quebec, Canada. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from participants assigned to the STEP program (<i>n</i> = 42) and those receiving treatment-as-usual (TAU; <i>n</i> = 125). Women participating in STEP reported significant improvements in their relationships with their partners compared to those assigned to TAU. More precisely, they reported higher couple satisfaction, enhanced communication, and increased interest in their partners’ emotional experience. The qualitative analysis further substantiated these results, with participants reporting having involved their partners in their pregnancy, shared their insights about themselves with their partners and gained fresh perspectives on their relationships. Participants in STEP also expressed sharing program materials with their partners and considered that such interventions should be extended to expecting fathers. This study underscores the potential of mentalization-based interventions to indirectly contribute to couple relationships, which may have positive implications for parenting and the infant.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22113","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140601997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Marc H. Bornstein, Nanmathi Manian, Lauren M. Henry
{"title":"Infants of mothers with early remitted clinical depression and mothers with no postpartum depression: Adaptive functioning in the second year of life","authors":"Marc H. Bornstein, Nanmathi Manian, Lauren M. Henry","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22110","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22110","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Whether and how remitted clinical depression in postpartum motherhood contributes to poor infant adaptive functioning is inconclusive. The present longitudinal study examines adaptive functioning in infants of mothers diagnosed as clinically depressed at 5 months but remitted at 15 and 24 months. Fifty-five U. S. mothers with early, remitted clinical depression and 132 mothers without postpartum depression completed the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales about their infants at 15 and 24 months. Between groups, mothers were equivalent in age, ethnicity, marital status, and receptive vocabulary (a proxy for verbal intelligence), and infants were equivalent in age and distribution of gender. Controlling for maternal education and parity, mothers with early, remitted clinical depression and mothers with no postpartum depression rated their infants similarly on communication, daily living skills, and socialization. Mothers with early, remitted clinical depression rated their infants poorer in motor skills. Girls were rated more advanced than boys in communication at 24 months and daily living skills at 15 and 24 months. Rated infant adaptive behavior skills increased from 15 to 24 months. With exceptions, adaptive functioning in infants may be robust to early, remitted maternal depression, and adaptive functioning presents a domain to promote positive development in this otherwise vulnerable population.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22110","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140337201","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Makarand V. Pantoji, Sundarnag Ganjekar, Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta, Prabha S. Chandra, Harish Thippeswamy
{"title":"Development of a tool for infant facial emotion recognition (InFER) for postpartum mothers with mental illnesses","authors":"Makarand V. Pantoji, Sundarnag Ganjekar, Urvakhsh Meherwan Mehta, Prabha S. Chandra, Harish Thippeswamy","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22111","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22111","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Understanding deficits in recognition of infant emotions in mothers with mental illnesses is limited by the lack of validated instruments. We present the development and content validation of the infant facial emotion recognition tool (InFER) in India to examine the ability of mothers to detect the infants' emotions. A total of 164 images of infant faces in various emotional states were gathered from the parents of four infants (two male and two female: up to 12 months old). Infant emotion in each image was identified by the respective mother. Content validation was carried out by 21 experts. Images with ≥70% concordance among experts were selected. The newly developed tool, InFER, consists of a total 39 infant images representing the six basic emotions. This tool was then administered among mothers during their postpartum period—10 healthy mothers and 10 mothers who had remitted from any schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar affective disorder or major depressive disorder. The mean age and mean years of education for both groups were comparable (age∼25 years, education ∼15 years). A significant difference was found between the two groups in their ability to recognize infant emotions (Mann–Whitney <i>U</i> = 12.5; <i>p</i> = 0.004). InFER is a promising tool in Indian settings for understanding maternal recognition of infant emotions.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140121122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Associations between maternal smartphone use and mother-infant responsiveness: A cluster analysis of potential risk and protective factors","authors":"Lisa Golds, Karri Gillespie-Smith, Angus MacBeth","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22112","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22112","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Contradictory results in the extant literature suggests that additional risk factors should be considered when exploring the impacts of maternal smartphone use on mother-infant relationships. This study used cluster analysis to explore whether certain risk factors were implicated in mother-infant dyads with high smartphone use and low mother-infant responsiveness. A cross-sectional survey of 450 participants in the UK measured infant social-emotional development, maternal depressive, anxiety and stress symptoms, wellbeing, social support, smartphone use, and mother-infant responsiveness. Participants were predominantly White (95.3%) and living with a partner (95.2%), with infants who were born full-term (88.9%). Cluster analysis identified three clusters characterized as; cluster (1) “infant at risk” showing high infant development concerns, high maternal smartphone use, and low mother-infant responsiveness; cluster (2) “mother at risk” showing high maternal depressive, anxiety, and stress scores, low social support, high maternal smartphone use, and low mother-infant responsiveness, and cluster (3) “low risk” showing low maternal smartphone use and high mother-infant responsiveness. Significant differences were found between all risk factors, except for maternal smartphone use and mother-infant responsiveness between clusters 1 and 2 suggesting that both clusters require early intervention, although interventions should be tailored towards the different risk factors they are presenting with.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22112","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140121121","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katrine I. Wendelboe, Anne C. Stuart, Johanne Smith-Nielsen, Thea B. Linkhorst, Mette Skovgaard Væver
{"title":"Offline and online parental mentalizing in mothers with symptoms of postpartum depression: Examining the association between self-reported parental reflective functioning and interactional mind-mindedness","authors":"Katrine I. Wendelboe, Anne C. Stuart, Johanne Smith-Nielsen, Thea B. Linkhorst, Mette Skovgaard Væver","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22109","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22109","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Mentalizing is, to a certain extent, considered context specific. However, research on the association between parents’ abilities to reflect upon their infant's mental states outside social interaction (offline) versus during ongoing parent-infant interaction (online) is currently limited. This study investigated the association between self-reported offline and online mentalizing in a sample of primarily ethnically Danish mothers (<i>N</i> = 142), with symptoms of postpartum depression, and their 1–11-month-old infants. Offline mentalizing was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire—Infant Version (PRFQ-I) and online mentalizing was assessed with interactional mind-mindedness. Ordinal logistic regressions showed that a higher score on the PRFQ-I prementalizing subscale was negatively related to number of overall mind-related comments and appropriate mind-related comments produced by mothers during interaction with their infant. Our results indicate partial overlaps between self-reported parental reflective functioning and mind-mindedness, that is, that particularly offline maladaptive mentalizing is associated with lower levels of mentalizing during interaction in mothers with symptoms of depression. Post-hoc examination of the interaction effect of postpartum depression showed that this association was only evident in mothers with medium to high levels of depression. Findings and implications are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22109","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140040674","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Susan J. Wenze, Cynthia M. Mikula, Cynthia L. Battle
{"title":"Two babies, two bonds: Frequency and correlates of differential maternal-infant bonding in mothers of twins","authors":"Susan J. Wenze, Cynthia M. Mikula, Cynthia L. Battle","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22108","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22108","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We assessed prevalence and correlates of differential maternal-infant bonding (i.e., experiencing a stronger bond with one baby vs. the other) in mothers of twins, focusing on aspects of maternal mental health, well-being, and pregnancy/birth that have been previously linked with maternal-infant bonding. Participants (<i>N</i> = 108 American women, 88.89% White, 82.41% non-Hispanic, aged 18–45, who gave birth to twins in the past 6–24 weeks) were recruited from postpartum support websites. Participants completed a Qualtrics survey assessing pregnancy/birth history, symptoms of depression and anxiety, sleep, stress, romantic relationship satisfaction, and postpartum bonding. Twenty-six participants (24.07%) reported a bonding discrepancy. These participants endorsed higher symptoms of depression and anxiety, lower relationship satisfaction, lower average postpartum bonding, higher general and parenting stress, and longer pregnancy (all <i>p</i>s > .05). Greater <i>degree</i> of bonding discrepancy correlated with more depression, higher parenting stress, longer pregnancy, and lower relationship satisfaction (all <i>p</i>s > .05). Mothers of twins may benefit from postpartum mental health support, stress management strategies, and interventions to improve bonding. Future work should assess the role of breastfeeding difficulties, delivery method, birth-related trauma, infant regulatory capacity, and temperament. Longitudinal studies will help test cause and effect and potential long-term repercussions of maternal-infant bonding discrepancies.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139967553","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meriah Drabkin, Nichole Fairbrother, Brianna Crighton, Erica Miller, Rollin Brant, Shivraj Riar, Arianne Albert, Ronald G. Barr
{"title":"Prepartum and postpartum mothers’ and fathers’ feelings of frustration in response to infant crying","authors":"Meriah Drabkin, Nichole Fairbrother, Brianna Crighton, Erica Miller, Rollin Brant, Shivraj Riar, Arianne Albert, Ronald G. Barr","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22107","DOIUrl":"10.1002/imhj.22107","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In this cross-sectional study performed in Canada, we evaluated the frustration levels of prepartum and postpartum mother and father couple-pairs. Our goal was to determine if there were differences in frustration levels between mothers and fathers while listening to prolonged infant crying, and further, how frustration levels might differ between prepartum and postpartum samples. Using two discrete groups, prepartum (Sample 1; <i>N</i> = 48) and postpartum (Sample 2; <i>N</i> = 44) mother and father couple-pairs completed 600 s of listening to audio-recorded infant cry sounds. Participants continuously reported their subjective frustration using a computerized Continuous Visual Analog Scale (CVAS). There was no significant difference in frustration responses between mothers and fathers across both prepartum and postpartum samples. Postpartum mothers and fathers experienced greater frustration than their prepartum counterparts, and frustration increased faster in postpartum couples compared to prepartum couples. Informing first-time parents of the universal experiences of frustration to prolonged crying bouts that are characteristic of their infant's early weeks of life may lead to greater understanding towards their infant, and perhaps decreased instances of harmful responses.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2024-02-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139724516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}