Rethinking Maternal Sensitivity: Mothers' Comments on Infants' Mental Processes Predict Security of Attachment at 12 Months

Abstract

This study investigated predictors of attachment security in a play context using a sample of 71 mothers and their 6-month-old infants. We sought to rethink the concept of maternal sensitivity by focusing on mothers ' ability accurately to read the mental states governing infant behaviour. Five categories were devised to assess this ability, four of which were dependent on maternal responses to infant behaviours, such as object-directed activity. The fifth, mothers ' Appropriate mind-related comments, assessed individual differences in mothers ' proclivity to comment appropriately on their infants ' mental states and processes. Higher scores in this fifth category related to a secure attachment relationship at 12 months. Maternal sensitivity and Appropriate mind-related comments were independent predictors of attachment security at 12 months, respectively accounting for 6n5 % and 12n7 % of its variance. We suggest that these findings are in line with current theorising on internal working models of attachment, and may help to explain security-related differences in mentalising abilities.

Maternal Mind-Mindedness and Children’s Behavioral Difficulties: Mitigating the Impact of Low Socioeconomic Status

“…A range of age-appropriate toys was available, and mothers were free to move around the room, although every session began with the mother and child together on a play mat in the center of the room. Maternal mind-mindedness was coded using the procedures outlined by Meins and colleagues Meins et al, 2001). Mothers' speech during the sessions was transcribed verbatim, and all comments that included an internal state term referring to the infant's mind or emotion (mind-related comments) were identified from the transcripts.…”

“…Appropriateness was assessed by watching the filmed interaction and using the verbatim transcript to identify all mindrelated comments. Meins and colleagues' Meins et al, 2001) criteria for appropriateness were used. A comment was classified as an appropriate mind-related comment if: (a) the independent coder believed the mother's reading of her infant's mind to be accurate; (b) it linked the infant's current activity with related past or future events; (c) it was a suggestion for a new activity after a lull in the interaction (e.g., "Do you want to play with this now?").…”

“…Specifically, we investigated whether mindmindedness (Meins, 1997)-the caregiver's tendency to treat the young child as an individual with a mind-predicted fewer behavioral difficulties in the child. Mindmindedness is operationalized in terms of caregivers' tendency to: (a) focus on mental characteristics when describing their preschoolers (Meins, Fernyhough, Russell, & Clark-Carter, 1998), (b) attribute meaning to their infants' early non-word utterances (Meins, 1998;Meins & Fernyhough, 1999), or (c) comment in an attuned manner on their infants' putative internal states during play interactions in the first year of life (Meins, Fernyhough, Fradley, & Tuckey, 2001). Mind-mindedness is associated with a range of positive child outcomes.…”

“…Mind-mindedness is associated with a range of positive child outcomes. Higher levels of caregiver mind-mindedness in the first year of life are known to predict secure caregiver-child attachment (Arnott & Meins, 2007;Lundy, 2003;Meins et al, 2001; and superior performance on theory of mind tasks at ages 2 (Laranjo, Bernier, Meins, & Carlson, 2010) and 4 (Meins et al, 2002(Meins et al, , 2003). But mind-mindedness is unrelated to children's temperament (Meins, Fernyhough, Arnott, Turner, & Leekam, 2011) and general cognitive ability (e.g., Meins et al, 2001), suggesting that individual infant characteristics do not determine caregivers' mind-mindedness.…”

“…Caregiver sensitivity is defined in terms of responding promptly and consistently to the child's cues, but does not necessarily entail any attribution of internal states to the infant. However, previous research has shown that mothers' comments that are attuned to infants' internal states are positively correlated with concurrent scores for maternal sensitivity (Laranjo, Bernier, & Meins, 2008;Meins et al, 2001;. Thus, in order to establish whether any association between mind-mindedness and children's behavioral difficulties was specific to mothers' attunement to their infants' internal states, rather than their more general responsivity, we included a measure of sensitivity.…”