Maternal reflective functioning among mothers with childhood maltreatment histories: links to sensitive parenting and infant attachment security

Stacks, Ann M.; Muzik, Maria; Wong, Kristyn; Beeghly, Marjorie; Huth‐Bocks, Alissa; Irwin, Jessica H.; Rosenblum, Katherine L.

doi:10.1080/14616734.2014.935452

Cited by 166 publications

(205 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…No significant relationships were found between PTSD, reflective functioning, and overall atypical caregiving behavior. Sullivan et al (2011) and Stacks et al (2014) replicated this finding; neither traumatic experiences nor PTSD were associated with levels of reflective functioning. However, among mothers with PTSD, reexperiencing the trauma was significantly associated with lower reflective functioning.…”

Section: Framework: Mentalizationsupporting

confidence: 75%

Relational Patterns Between Caregivers With PTSD and Their Nonexposed Children

Kleber

Jongmans

2015

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

114

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The question as to whether or not children can be affected by the traumatization of their parents has been the topic of a long-standing debate. This article provides a critical review of 72 research studies on traumatized parents with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), the parent-child interaction, and the impact on their nonexposed child (0-18 years). The evidence suggests that traumatization can cause parenting limitations, and these limitations can disrupt the development of the young child. From the studies reviewed several patterns emerged: Relational patterns of traumatized parents who are observed to be emotionally less available and who perceive their children more negatively than parents without symptoms of PTSD; relational patterns of children who at a young age are easily deregulated or distressed and at an older age are reported to face more difficulties in their psychosocial development than children of parents without symptoms of PTSD; and relational patterns that show remarkable similarities to relational patterns between depressed or anxious parents and their children. Mechanisms such as mentalization, attachment, physiological factors, and the cycle of abuse offer a valuable perspective to further our understanding of the relational patterns. This article builds on previous work by discussing the emerged patterns between traumatized parents and their nonexposed children from a relational and transactional perspective.

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Section: Framework: Mentalizationsupporting

confidence: 75%

Relational Patterns Between Caregivers With PTSD and Their Nonexposed Children

Kleber

Jongmans

2015

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

114

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“…Exclusion criteria included: maternal drug use in the past month and maternal history of Bipolar Disorder or Psychosis (according to the M.I.N.I. ; Sheehan et al, 1998), infant developmental disability, and severe maternal or child illness, as reported by mothers at the 4 month interview (for more details on recruitment and overall study design see Stacks et al, 2014). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Secure base scripts are associated with maternal parenting behavior across contexts and reflective functioning among trauma-exposed mothers

Huth‐Bocks

Muzik

Beeghly

et al. 2014

Attachment & Human Development

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There is growing evidence that ‘secure-base scripts’ (Waters & Waters, 2006) are an important part of the cognitive underpinnings of internal working models of attachment. Recent research in middle class samples has shown that secure-base scripts are linked to maternal attachment-oriented behavior and child outcomes. However, little is known about the correlates of secure base scripts in higher-risk samples. Participants in the current study included 115 mothers who were oversampled for childhood maltreatment and their infants. Results revealed that a higher level of secure base scriptedness was significantly related to more positive and less negative maternal parenting in both unstructured free play and structured teaching contexts, and to higher reflective functioning scores on the Parent Development Interview-Revised Short Form (Slade, Aber, Berger, Bresgi, & Kaplan, 2003). Associations with parent-child secure base scripts, specifically, indicate some level of relationship-specificity in attachment scripts. Many, but not all, significant associations remained after controlling for family income and maternal age. Findings suggest that assessing secure base scripts among mothers known to be at risk for parenting difficulties may be important for interventions aimed at altering problematic parental representations and caregiving behavior.

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“…Higher levels of postnatal RF have been associated with more sensitivity during mother-child interactions (Grienenberger et al 2005; Pajulo et al 2008). Furthermore, lower postnatal RF has been associated with more negative maternal parenting behaviors, such as negativity, controlling parenting, and intrusiveness (Stacks et al 2014). Therefore, maternal RF may be regarded as a critical component for adequate and sensitive caretaking (Fonagy et al 2002).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prenatal Reflective Functioning and Development of Aggression in Infancy: the Roles of Maternal Intrusiveness and Sensitivity

Smaling

Huijbregts

Heijden

et al. 2016

J Abnorm Child Psychol

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Maternal reflective functioning (RF) has been associated with quality of parent-child interactions and child development. This study investigated whether prenatal RF predicted the development of infant physical aggression and whether maternal sensitivity and/or intrusiveness mediated or moderated this association. The sample consisted of 96 first-time mothers (M = 22.57 years, SD = 2.13) and their infants (54 % male). Prenatal RF was measured with an interview, maternal behavior was observed during free play at 6 months post-partum, and infant physical aggression was assessed at 6, 12, and 20 months using maternal reports. Multivariate analyses of variance showed that relatively poor prenatal RF was related to relatively high infant physical aggression. These associations were moderated by maternal intrusiveness, with significant differences in physical aggression between RF-groups reportedly only in the absence of intrusiveness. Generally, mothers reported an increase in physical aggression between 6 and 12 months, except when they had both low RF-skills and were relatively less sensitive. It is concluded that prenatal RF is associated with (development of) infant physical aggression, and may be targeted in intervention programs aimed at reducing early physical aggression. Less adequate parenting, however, may counteract the beneficial effects of good RF, or obscure insight into children’s behavioral development.

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Maternal reflective functioning among mothers with childhood maltreatment histories: links to sensitive parenting and infant attachment security

Cited by 166 publications

References 61 publications

Relational Patterns Between Caregivers With PTSD and Their Nonexposed Children

Relational Patterns Between Caregivers With PTSD and Their Nonexposed Children

Secure base scripts are associated with maternal parenting behavior across contexts and reflective functioning among trauma-exposed mothers

Prenatal Reflective Functioning and Development of Aggression in Infancy: the Roles of Maternal Intrusiveness and Sensitivity

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