Families Experiencing Divorce: Age at Onset of Overnight Stays, Conflict, and Emotional Availability as Predictors of Child Attachment

Altenhofen, Shannon; Sutherland, Katie; Biringen, Zeynep

doi:10.1080/10502551003597782

Cited by 28 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Research has shown associations between bonding measured at different time-points in the perinatal period: Prenatal bonding has been associated with postnatal bonding (Rossen et al, 2016(Rossen et al, , 2017 while bonding was shown to be associated at 4 weeks, 4 months, and 8 months postnatal (Condon & Corkindale, 1998). While EA has been studied extensively in relation to attachment (Altenhofen, Clyman, Little, Baker, & Biringen, 2013;Altenhofen, Sutherland, & Biringen, 2010), including the Strange Situation protocol (Aviezer, Sagi, Joels, & Ziv, 1999;Aviezer, Sagi-Schwartz, & Koren-Karie, 2003;Biringen et al, 2005;Carter, Garrity-Rokous, Chazan-Cohen, Little, & Briggs-Gowan, 2001;Easterbrooks et al, 2000;Ziv, Aviezer, Gini, Sagi, & Koren-Karie, 2000), the relationship of early self-reported bonding (8 weeks postnatal) and EA at 12-months has yet to be examined. In particular, these associations have not previously been investigated in a large community sample that included both mothers and partners, using a longitudinal cohort study design.…”

Section: Subjective Appraisals Of the Parent-infant Bondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Rossen

Mattick

Wilson

et al. 2018

Infancy

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Emotional availability (EA) is a focal indicator of parent–infant relationship quality and plays a key role in determining healthy child development, yet factors thought to influence EA have not been examined comprehensively in the postnatal period in both mothers and partners. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of mother–infant and partner–infant bonding, mental ill‐health and substance use at 8 weeks postbirth on mother–infant and partner–infant EA at 12 months postbirth, accounting for a range of demographic and postnatal variables. Participants were 191 matched mother–partner–infant triads from a nested sample of an Australian longitudinal pregnancy cohort (The Triple B Pregnancy Cohort). Assessments were conducted at 8 weeks postbirth and at infant age 12 months. Parental EA was coded from dyadic interactions during a 20‐min free play observational video recorded at 12 months. Generalized estimating equations (GEE) analysis, accounting for within‐dyad clustering, showed older parent age was associated with higher parent–child EA scores (χ2 = 6.28, p < .01), while parental tobacco use (χ2 = 7.35, p < .01) and depression (χ2 = 4.51, p < .05) at 8 weeks postnatal predicted poorer parent–child EA scores at 12 months. These novel findings suggest that it may be particularly important to support young couples and those struggling with symptoms of depression or tobacco use during the postnatal period.

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Section: Subjective Appraisals Of the Parent-infant Bondmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Rossen

Mattick

Wilson

et al. 2018

Infancy

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“…Altenhofen, Sutherland & Biringen (2010) conducted a small study of child attachment in a sample of 24 divorcing mothers and children, ages 12 to 73 months, the majority of whom were 2-4 years old. Children aged 2-3 years in the "most overnights" group (35% or more overnights between their parents) showed significantly lower persistence in play and learning than those in either of the lower contact groups, and more problematic behaviors.…”

Section: Developmental Outcomes In Early Childhood Associated With Pamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that the analyses were conducted at one point in time, neither cause and effect between overnights and outcomes nor the clinical significance of such findings over time can be concluded. Altenhofen, Sutherland & Biringen (2010) conducted a small study of child attachment in a sample of 24 divorcing mothers and children, ages 12 to 73 months, the majority of whom were 2-4 years old. Parents were white, educated, and infants averaged eight overnights per month with fathers.…”

Section: Developmental Outcomes In Early Childhood Associated With Pamentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Separation and Overnight Care of Young Children, Part I: Consensus Through Theoretical and Empirical Integration

Pruett

McIntosh²,

Kelly³

2014

Family Court Review

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The AFCC Think Tank on Research, Policy, Practice, and Shared Parenting was convened in response to an identified need for a progression of thinking in the family law field, removed from the current polarizing debates surrounding the postseparation care of infants and very young children. We share this goal as our research and commentaries have been centrally implicated in the current controversies. Our collaboration over this empirical paper and its clinical counterpart endorses the need for higher‐order thinking, away from dichotomous arguments, to more inclusive solutions grounded in an integrated psycho‐developmental perspective. We first critically appraise the theoretical and empirical origins of current controversies relevant to attachment and parental involvement research. We then describe how attachment and parental involvement contribute complementary perspectives that, taken together, provide a sound basis from which to understand the needs of very young children in separated families. As a companion piece, Part II offers a collective view of a way forward for decision making about overnights for infants and young children, toward the integration of theoretical and empirical with clinical wisdom. An integrative perspective suggests that the goals of attachment and early parental (typically paternal) involvement with very young children after separation are mutually attainable and mutually reinforcing rather than exclusive choices. An optimal goal for the family is a “triadic secure base” developed through a co‐parenting environment that supports the child's secure attachment with each parent and the recognition by each parent of the other's importance to the child. Cautions against overnight care during the first three years are not supported. The limited available research substantiates some caution about higher frequency overnight schedules with young children, particularly when the child's relationship with a second parent has not been established and/or parents are in frequent conflict to which the child is exposed.

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“…In the third and most recent study, 24 White children ages 1 to 6 were overnighting an average of eight times a month (Altenhofen, Sutherland, & Biringen, 2010). Most were 2 to 4 years old and had started overnighting at 2.5 years old.…”

Section: Downloaded By [Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries] Amentioning

confidence: 97%

Parenting Plans for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: Research and Issues

Nielsen

2014

Journal of Divorce & Remarriage

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Families Experiencing Divorce: Age at Onset of Overnight Stays, Conflict, and Emotional Availability as Predictors of Child Attachment

Cited by 28 publications

References 36 publications

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Mother–Infant and Partner–Infant Emotional Availability at 12 Months of Age: Findings From an Australian Longitudinal Study

Parental Separation and Overnight Care of Young Children, Part I: Consensus Through Theoretical and Empirical Integration

Parenting Plans for Infants, Toddlers, and Preschoolers: Research and Issues

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