Parental Attachment Dimensions and Parenting Stress: The Mediating Role of Parental Reflective Functioning

Nijssens, Liesbet; Bleys, Dries; Casalin, Sara; Vliegen, Nicole; Luyten, Patrick

doi:10.1007/s10826-018-1029-0

Cited by 51 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…A recent study indicates that this effect is most prominent in mothers with high level on the attachment anxiety dimension. This includes mothers' sense of competence in parenting, partner support, isolation and the degree of feeling restricted by the parenting role [33]. The relationship between attachment style and parenting stress may be understood within attachment theory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress

et al. 2020

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Background: The quality of maternal-infant bonding is related to important child outcomes. The literature has assumed that the ability to form relationships is a relatively stable trait, and research studies have suggested that a mother's attachment style in close adult relationships is related to mother-infant bonding. The transition to parenthood is also often stressful, and the adult attachment style may relate to parenting stress in the first year after birth. Such stress could possibly have a negative relationship with the mother-infant bond. In the present study, we examined the associations between maternal adult attachment styles and the quality of mother-infant bonding and whether this relationship is mediated by parenting stress. Methods: The present study sample comprised 168 women (mean age 31.0 years, SD 4.23 years). Between weeks 31 and 41 of gestation, the anxious and avoidant adult attachment dimensions were measured with the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire (ECR). Between 5 and 15 weeks after birth mother-infant bonding and parenting stress were measured with the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Parenting Stress Index-Parent Domain (PSI-PD), respectively. Results: Both attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety correlated significantly and negatively with mother-infant bonding. However, a regression analysis showed that only attachment-related avoidance was a significant predictor of mother-infant bonding when controlling for demographic variables and maternal mental health history. The relationship between the adult attachment style and bonding was mediated by parenting stress. Higher scores on attachment avoidance and anxiety were related to increased stress, which was related to decreased quality of bonding. The overall parent domain and the subscale of competence in the parent-related stress dimension mediated between attachment avoidance and bonding, and the overall parent domain and the subscales of competence and role restriction mediated between attachment anxiety and bonding. There was no direct relationship between the adult attachment style and mother-infant bonding when parenting stress was included as a mediator.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress

et al. 2020

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“…En cuanto a las puntuaciones medias en la dimensión PM en el presente estudio éstas se situaron por debajo de la media tanto en la muestra total como en los padres y en las madres, indicando así un menor uso de modos prementalizadores en la relación con sus hijos/as. Esto puede explicarse por las características de los participantes que participaron en el estudio, puesto que en otros estudios desarrollados con progenitores con altos niveles de estrés parental se ha observado un mayor uso de modos prementalizadores en la relación con sus hijos/as (Fonagy & Luyten, 2009;Nijssens, Bleys, Casalin, Vliegen, & Luyten, 2018).…”

Section: Discussionunclassified

Versión Española del Cuestionario de Función Reflexiva Parental (CFRP-18)

Gordo¹,

Elejalde²,

Martínez‐Pampliega³

2020

REV IBEROAM DIAGN EV

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Hasta la fecha, no existen instrumentos de autoinforme para evaluar la función reflexiva parental en lengua española. Por ello, el principal objetivo del presente estudio es analizar la estructura factorial y las propiedades psicométricas del Cuestionario de Función Reflexiva Parental (CFRP-18) en padres (n=113) y madres (n=433) de habla hispana de bebés entre 0 a 3 años. La media de edad de los padres fue 37.85 (DT=3.96) y la de las madres 36.15 (DT=4.19). Asimismo, se analiza la asociación entre las dimensiones del CFRP-18 y las características sociodemográficas de los progenitores. Como objetivo secundario, se analiza la invarianza factorial del CFRP-18 en madres y padres. El análisis factorial confirmatorio mostró un adecuado ajuste a los datos, aportando evidencia de la utilidad del CFRP-18 para evaluar el funcionamiento reflexivo parental. Este estudio aporta datos preliminares de la invariancia del CFRP-18.

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“…The effects are likely to be complex, and over time, both children and parents may be reinforced for maladaptive behaviors. As outlined by Nijssens et al (38), the lack of feelings of control and efficacy that may be experienced by parents with poorer PRF could entail an increasing belief that interactions spiral out of control, an issue frequently described in families with children with ADHD. Furthermore, the present finding on PRF substantiated the increasing attention paid to the role of mentalization both in empirical studies and in parenting interventions in the ADHD field, highlighting the potential role of enhanced parental capacity to think about the mental processes underlying children's expressed emotions and behaviors in families of children with ADHD.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire [PRFQ; (35)] is a brief and multidimensional assessment tool, quite different from mind—mindedness used in the previous study with parents of children with ADHD by Gershy and Gray (9). Studies that have assessed PRF using the PRFQ have shown that a parent's capacity to mentalize may be a critical factor in tolerating an infant's distress, enhancing more positive discipline strategies, and perceiving less parenting stress (33, 36–38). Hence, these studies showed that PRF may foster feelings of efficacy in dealing with distressing situations and interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental Reflective Functioning in Mothers and Fathers of Children With ADHD: Issues Regarding Assessment and Implications for Intervention

Mazzeschi

Buratta

Germani

et al. 2019

Front. Public Health

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Parental factors contribute to ADHD, partly in an etiological way and partly as moderators and mediators of child outcomes and treatment effects. An important aspect of parenting seems to be parental reflective functioning (PRF), defined as the parent's capacity to reflect upon his own and his child's internal mental experience. The studies on parenting factors linked to ADHD have not extensively investigated the role of PRF. Recent findings on interventions have begun to consider mentalization to promote empathy and emotion regulation in parents, but empirical studies assessing PRF are still scarce. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to compare specific familial and parental functioning characteristic between parents of children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and parents of controls without ADHD. A clinical sample of 41 children with ADHD aged 8–11 years and their parents was compared with a matched, non-clinical sample of 40 children. Three aspects of parental functioning were investigated: parental symptomatology, parental alliances and PRF; children's differences in strength and difficulty profiles were also assessed. The results showed that families of children with ADHD had lower socioeconomic status, and both mothers and fathers of the same families reported higher scores for depression and lower PRF than did the control group; only mothers showed lower parental alliance. Logistic regression highlighted the fact that several of these familial and parental factors contributed to the increased risk of belonging to the clinical group, specifically both mothers' and fathers' depressive symptoms and lower PRF. These data represent new findings with potentially meaningful clinical implications for both assessment and intervention.

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Parental Attachment Dimensions and Parenting Stress: The Mediating Role of Parental Reflective Functioning

Cited by 51 publications

References 76 publications

Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress

Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress

Versión Española del Cuestionario de Función Reflexiva Parental (CFRP-18)

Parental Reflective Functioning in Mothers and Fathers of Children With ADHD: Issues Regarding Assessment and Implications for Intervention

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