The European Early Promotion Project: Description of the Service and Evaluation Study

et al. 2015

Infant Ment. Health J.

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Shared pleasure (SP) was analyzed in fifty-eight 2-month-old infants and their mothers in face-to-face interaction (T1, at 2 months). The association of SP with child's emotional and behavioral outcome at 2 years (T2) was examined. SP as a possible protecting factor in the presence of parental psychopathology also was studied. Mean duration of SP moments (SP-MD) was related to subsequent socioemotional outcome of the child: Infants of dyads with longer SP-MD showed fewer internalizing and externalizing problems 2 years later. In hierarchical linear regressions, SP-MD uniquely and significantly contributed to internalizing problems after adjusting for infant and maternal factors and mother's interactive behavior. SP protected the child against the influence of parental psychopathology. Father's mental health problems during the follow-up increased the child's risk for higher externalizing and internalizing problems, but only among children with short SP-MD at T1. Internalizing symptoms at T2 increased when moving from the category "no mental health problems" to "mental health problems in one parent" and further to "mental health problems in both parents," but this increase was found only among those with short SP-MD at T1. SP in parent-child interaction is an important feature that fosters positive psychological development and moderates the health effects of other risks such as parental psychopathology.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shared Pleasure in Early Mother-Infant Interaction: Predicting Lower Levels of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in the Child and Protecting Against the Influence of Parental Psychopathology

et al. 2015

Infant Ment. Health J.

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“…Data on SES, marital relationship, family violence, child's physical health, mother's perception of the child and parental mental health was gathered through a semistructured interview specifically designed for the EEPP [38,40] and based on established methods (e.g. [41][42][43]).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting Internalizing and Externalizing Problems at Five Years by Child and Parental Factors in Infancy and Toddlerhood

Child Psychiatry Hum Dev

et al. 2011

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This study examined child and parental factors in infancy and toddlerhood predicting subclinical or clinical levels of internalizing and externalizing problems at 5 years of age. Ninety-six children and their families participated. They were assessed when the children were 4-10 weeks old (T1), 2 years (T2) and 5 years old (T3). Child risks (difficult temperament, health problems, early emotional and behavioral problems), parental risks (psychopathology, parenting stress and perception of the child) and family risks (socio-economic status, quality of marital relationship and family violence) were examined. At 5 years, internalizing problems were predicted by family violence during the child's infancy and parenting stress at age 2. Externalizing problems were predicted by psychiatric problems of the mother before pregnancy and child's externalizing problems at 2 years of age. When interventions aiming at preventing emotional and behavioral problems in children are considered, these issues should be recognized early and effective intervention initiated.

“…EEPP is an extensive longitudinal early intervention study and a collaboration of five European countries (Cyprus, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Finland, Greece and the United Kingdom). The project has been described in detail elsewhere (28,29) and only a short description is given here. Expectant mothers within the normal population were invited by public health nurses working at well-baby clinics to participate in the study.…”

Section: Participantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The mothers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview, specifically designed for the EEPP (28,29) and based on established methods (e.g. 32Á34).…”

Section: Measures Interviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother's early perception of her infant's difficult temperament, parenting stress and early mother–infant interaction

Nordic Journal of Psychiatry

et al. 2006

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The current study investigated factors contributing to mother's early perception of her infant's difficult temperament. One hundred and twenty-four mother-infant dyads participated in the study. Mother's perception of the infant's temperament was assessed with the Infant Characteristics Questionnaire (ICQ). The influence of mother-infant interaction, mother's mental health and parenting stress were investigated. Mother-infant interaction was videotaped during a face-to-face interaction and analysed using the Global Rating Scale. Mother's mental health was assessed through a structured interview (Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, SCID) and parenting stress was examined by a questionnaire (Parenting Stress Index). First, the difficulty scale of the ICQ was used as a continuous variable and factors contributing to mother's perception of her infant's temperament as more or less difficult were examined. Secondly, infants were categorized into difficult and non-difficult, and factors increasing the infant's risk of being perceived as difficult were examined. The model including mother's mental health and parental distress accounted for 24% of the variance in perceived infant difficulty, with parental distress in particular being an influential contributor. When infants categorized as difficult were examined, mother's intrusiveness and infant's poor interactive behaviour in early mother-infant interaction as well as parental distress significantly increased the infant's risk of being perceived as difficult.