Research on parental reflective functioning (PRF)-defined as parents' capacity to comprehend the developing mind of their child, reflect upon it, and hold in mind the inner life of the child-has mostly involved mothers of infants and young children, and rarely fathers and parents of school-aged children. The present study sought to extend research on PRF by examining aspects of the construct that are still scarcely explored, such as the role of gender and attachment; to investigate whether there were differences between mothers' and fathers' PRF and whether there were differences in PRF related to the gender and age of the child; and, finally, to assess the association between PRF and each parent's attachment style. The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) and the Attachment Style Questionnaire (ASQ) were administered to a community sample of mothers and fathers of 385 children aged 3-10 years. A multi-group factor analysis supported the hypothesized three-factor model among both fathers and mothers. Univariate and multivariate analyses of variance showed that mothers had higher levels of interest and curiosity in their children's mental states than fathers. Parents of daughters showed higher prementalizing modes than parents of sons. Parents of preschool children showed less nonmentalizing modes than parents of children aged 8-10. Correlations between PRFQ and ASQ showed that both mothers' and fathers' interest in thinking about their child's internal experience and in taking the child's perspective were correlated with higher levels of secure attachment style. Research implications are discussed.
The transition to parenthood is widely considered a period of increased vulnerability often accompanied by stress. Abidin conceived parenting stress as referring to specific difficulties in adjusting to the parenting role. Most studies of psychological distress arising from the demands of parenting have investigated the impact of stress on the development of dysfunctional parent–child relationships and on adult and child psychopathology. Studies have largely focused on mothers’ postnatal experience; less attention has been devoted to maternal prenatal characteristics associated with subsequent parental stress and studies of maternal prenatal predictors are few. Furthermore, no studies have examined that association exclusively with samples of first-time mothers. With an observational prospective study design with two time periods, the aim of this study was to investigate the role of mothers’ attachment style, maternal prenatal attachment to the fetus and dyadic adjustment during pregnancy (7th months of gestation) and their potential unique contribution to parenting stress 3 months after childbirth in a sample of nulliparous women. Results showed significant correlations between antenatal measures. Maternal attachment style (especially relationship anxiety) was negatively correlated with prenatal attachment and with dyadic adjustment; positive correlations resulted between prenatal attachment and dyadic adjustment. Each of the investigated variables was also good predictor of parenting stress 3 months after childbirth. Findings suggested how these dimensions could be considered as risk factors in the transition to motherhood and in the very beginning of the emergence of the caregiving system, especially with first-time mothers.
In the last decades, consensus from laymen, scholars, and policy-makers has emphasized the role of child-parent relationships to promote child’s development and positive well-being. Parenting style was claimed as one of the crucial factors for the child’s positive adjustment. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the relationships between authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles and child’s difficulties. The mediational role of parent’s perception of a difficult child on the above mentioned relation was taken into account. The study was carried out on a sample of 459 couples including mothers (n = 459) and fathers (n = 459) of children aged 2 to 10 years old who filled in the Parenting Styles & Dimensions Questionnaire short version, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and the Parenting Stress Index-short form. Main findings indicated that authoritative style was associated with less child’s maladjustment, while the authoritarian one showed the opposite association. These relationships were partially mediated by the perception of a difficult child, which partially explained the link between parenting style and child’s problems. Above and beyond the role of parent’s perception as a difficult child, parenting styles had an important effect on child’s difficulties. Future studies should replicate these results with other samples, use the spouse version of the parenting styles, control the effect of socio-economic status and other variables related to family functioning, as well as to consider the child’s perception regarding parents’ parenting style.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.