Fathering and Attachment

Dykas, Matthew J.; Smiler, Andrew P.

doi:10.1007/978-3-031-14498-1_6

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 135 publications

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“…Parental sensitivity is widely recognized as a key parenting construct (Mesman, 2021), but our understanding of this construct is limited by the disproportionate focus on mother‐infant rather than father–infant relationships (Dykas & Smiler, 2022). A meta‐analysis of results from 93 studies published between 1983 and 2020 using observed measures of maternal and paternal sensitivity across childhood (3–180 months) found both a small but significant average between‐parent difference, with mothers showing more sensitivity than fathers ( d = −.27) and an effect of publication year, such that this contrast is smaller in more recent studies (Deneault et al., 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Fink,

Foley,

Browne

et al. 2024

Infant Mental Health Journal

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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.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%