Anxiety and Attachment to the Mother in Preschoolers Receiving Psychiatric Care: The Father–child Activation Relationship as a Protective Factor

Abstract

This 49-family study is the first to explore the father-child relationship in a clinical population of preschoolers (at a tertiary care child psychiatry clinic) and to examine its relation to child anxiety and attachment to the mother. A moderation model of the father-child activation relationship on the relation between attachment to the mother and child anxiety was tested and discussed. Analyses confirmed the expected independence between mother-child attachment and father-child activation as well as the association between mother-child attachment and anxiety. The highest levels of anxiety were found in insecure children, and more specifically, in insecure-ambivalent children and insecure disorganized-controlling children of the caregiving subtype. Hypotheses regarding the relation between anxiety and activation were only partially confirmed. Finally, the activation relationship with the father was shown to have a moderating effect on the relation between attachment to the mother and child anxiety; activation by the father may be considered either a protective or a risk factor. Results for this clinical population of young children are discussed in the light of attachment theory and activation relationship theory. The study's findings have the potential to contribute to the development of preventative, diagnostic, and intervention programs that take both parental figures into account.

Openness to the World by Fathers and Mothers of Preschoolers in Two-parent Families

“…These profiles relate to the adequate children's activation (Paquette & Bigras, 2010). These caregivers foster their children's OW and contribute to the development of their self-confidence, self-control, self-regulation of anxiety and aggressiveness; development of social skills of cooperation, autonomy and competition, besides the skill of how to cope with challenge or danger situations, even in the absence of the caregivers Gaumon & Paquette, 2013;Gaumon et al, 2016;Paquette, 2012;Paquette & Bigras, 2010;Paquette, Eugene, Dubeau, & Gagnon, 2009;St. George et al, 2015).…”

“…They often develop self-confidence and self-control and are able to behave appropriately in risky situations even without their fathers (Paquette & Bigras, 2010). Thus, when the father properly plays the role of fostering OW, he helps the child develop self-regulation in relation to his/her anxiety (Gaumon, Paquette, Cyr, Émond-Nakamura, & St-André, 2016) and aggressiveness, and social skills of cooperation, autonomy and competition (Paquette & Bigras, 2010).…”

“…According to Dumont and Paquette (2013), AR occurs especially by performing these games with the child where rules are clearly established by the caregiver. Thus, international studies mostly highlight that it is the father who most establishes AR and OW behaviors with the child Gaumon et al, 2016;Paquette & Bigras, 2010) There are still few Brazilian studies on ART and/or the role of fostering OW. Research on 218 child-free people found that in their perception, the father plays the role of fostering OW more with the boy than with the girl (Paraventi et al, 2017).…”

“…Considering the above, this article aimed to characterize, compare, and define the typologies of OW for fathers and mothers of southern Brazil. Even with the increasing gender equality in the family context, based on the literature on the phenomenon (Gaumon et al, 2016), it is hypothesized that the father is more involved with the child's OW than the mother due to the appreciation by the current socio-cultural context.…”

Envolvimento paterno: validade interna da versão brasileira do Inventory of Father Involvement

“…Diante do aumento do interesse no estudo do envolvimento paterno (Bueno & Vieira, 2014;Volker, 2014) e, consequentemente, no número de trabalhos sobre o tema (Barrocas, Vieira-Santos, Paixão, Roberto, & Pereira, 2016), nota-se que a atuação do pai em relação ao filho pode acarretar consequências de grande importância para o bem-estar e o desenvolvimento, tanto do filho (Allen & Daly, 2007;Cabrera, Shannon, & TamisLeMonda, 2007;Gaumon, Paquette, Cyr, Édmond-Najamura, & St-André;Pleck, 2012;Santis & Barham, no prelo;Sarkadi, Kristiansson, Oberklaid, & Bremberg, 2008;Stevenson & Crnic, 2013) quanto do próprio pai (Allen & Daly, 2007;Bartlett, 2004;Pleck, 2012;Santis & Barham, no prelo) e para a qualidade da relação conjugal que este estabelece (Mehall, Spinrad, Eisenberg, & Gaertner, 2009;Santis & Barham, no prelo;Simões, Leal, & Marôco, 2010).…”