Expectant mothers' not fathers' mind‐mindedness predicts infant, mother, and father conversational turns at 7 months

Abstract

Parental mind-mindedness (MM), defined as the propensity to view one's child as an agent with thoughts, feelings, and desires, is associated with positive child outcomes (McMahon & Bernier, 2017) and can be assessed in expectant parents by using five-minute speech samples (Magaña et al., 1986). Individual differences in MM appear stable across the transition to parenthood (Foley et al., in press), offering an exciting intervention opportunity, as expectant mothers' thoughts and feelings about their unborn infants are associated with the quality of mother-infant interactions. To assess prenatal MM as a predictor of parent-infant conversation at 7 months, we followed 93 low-risk British heterosexual couples across the transition to parenthood.Mothers' and fathers' MM was measured both in the third trimester of pregnancy and at 4 months. Wearable LENA devices were used to gather detailed measures of mother-, father-, and infant-initiated conversations at 7 months. Prenatal MM in both parents was associated with more frequent infant-initiated conversations at 7 months, while prenatal maternal (not paternal) MM was also associated with more mother-and father-initiated conversations.

Parental sensitivity and family conversation: A naturalistic longitudinal study with both mothers and fathers across three time‐points in early infancy

“…These findings contrast with other longitudinal associations which differed by infant gender. For example, we have previously reported that, in this sample, gains in the theoretically related construct of mind‐mindedness were stronger in the postpartum period for fathers (not mothers) with daughters and not sons (Foley et al., 2022) and that mothers with poorer relationships with their partners at 4 months postpartum spoke more to their sons but not daughters at 7 months (Fink et al., 2020). Meta‐analytic studies have also examined whether parent and infant behaviors differ by infant gender (Endendijk et al., 2016); we hope that it will soon be possible to apply meta‐analyses to test more nuanced questions surrounding whether transactional links between parent and infant behavior systematically differ by infant gender.…”