Disrupted maternal communication and disorganized attachment in the Arab society in Israel.

Disrupted maternal communication during mother-infant interaction has been found to be associated with infants' disorganized attachment, but has been studied primarily in North American and European samples and not in Arab samples. To address this gap the study examined the association between disrupted maternal communication and infant attachment in a sample of 50 Arab mothers and their one-year-old infants in Israel. Attachment was assessed with the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), and disrupted communication with the AMBIANCE. Disrupted communication was higher in mothers of infants with disorganized and ambivalent attachment than in mothers of securely attached infants. The findings support the link between disrupted communication and disorganized attachment in the Arab society in Israel and add to our understanding of maternal behavior associated with ambivalent attachment.

Se ha determinado que la interrumpida comunicación materna durante la interacción madre-infante está asociada con la desorganizada afectividad de los infantes, pero ha sido estudiada primariamente en grupos muestras norteamericanos y europeos, no así en grupos muestras árabes. Con el fin de ocuparse de este vacío, el estudio examinó la asociación entre la interrumpida comunicación materna y la afectividad del infante en un grupo muestra de 50 madres árabes y sus infantes de un año de edad en Israel. Se evaluó la afectividad con el Procedimiento de la Situación Extraña (SSP), y la interrumpida comunicación con AMBIANCE (Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999). La interrumpida comunicación fu mayor en madres de infantes con afectividad desorganizada y ambivalente que en madres de infantes afectivamente seguros. Los resultados apoyan la conexión entre la interrumpida comunicación y la desorganizada afectividad en la sociedad árabe en Israel y también son un aporte a nuestra comprensión del comportamiento materno asociado con la afectividad ambivalente.

On sait que la communication maternelle perturbée durant l'interaction mère-bébé est liée à l'attachement désorganisé des bébés, mais cela a été avant tout étudié chez des échantillons d'Amérique du Nord et européens, et non chez des échantillons arabes. Afin de combler ce fossé l'étude a examiné le lien entre la communication maternelle perturbée et l'attachement du bébé chez un échantillon de 50 mères arabes et leurs bébés d'un an en Israël. L'attachement a été évalué avec la Procédure de Situation Etrange (SSP en anglais) et la communication perturbée a été évalué avec l'AMBIANCE (Lyons-Ruth et al., 1999). La communication perturbée était plus élevée chez les mères de bébés avec un attachement désorganisé et ambivalent que chez les mères de bébés étant attachés de manière sécure. Les résultats soutiennent le lien entre la communication perturbée et l'attachement désorganisé dans la société arabe en Israël et ils s'ajoutent également à notre compréhension du comportement maternel lié à l'attachement ambivalent.

Maternal insomnia and depressive symptoms and early childhood sleep among Arab and Jewish families in Israel.

OBJECTIVES: The present study explored the links between maternal insomnia symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, and young children's sleep quality among two major cultural groups in Israel: Arab and Jewish. We also assessed the prevalence of maternal insomnia and depressive symptoms, in both cultural groups. METHODS: Mothers of 497 healthy, typically developing infants and toddlers, ranging in age from 3-36 months, participated in the study: 253 of the mothers were Arab and 244 were Jewish. Mothers completed the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. RESULTS: For both cultural groups, there were significant positive associations between maternal ISI and EPDS, as well as between maternal ISI and child sleep variables (nighttime wakefulness and perceived child's sleep problems), after controlling for child age. Significant correlations were also found between maternal EPDS and child sleep, after controlling for child age, but these correlations were not significant once controlling for ISI. Cross-cultural differences in prevalence of insomnia and depressive symptoms were found based on the clinical cutoffs of the ISI and EPDS: Arab mothers, compared to Jewish mothers, reported higher levels of insomnia and depressive symptoms, and were more likely to have scores higher than the clinical cutoff on both measures. CONCLUSION: Maternal insomnia, depressive symptoms, and child sleep quality are significantly intertwined in both Arab and Jewish families in Israel. The findings highlight the importance of taking these three domains into consideration in research and in clinical assessments of families with young children.

Maternal sleep related cognitions and child sleep quality: a cross-cultural comparison between the Arab and Jewish societies in Israel.

OBJECTIVES: To examine differences in maternal sleep-related cognitions and to explore the associations between those cognitions and reported child sleep quality in a sample of mothers of young children, from two major cultural groups in Israel: Arab and Jewish. METHOD: Mothers of 497 healthy, typically developing infants and toddler ranging in age from 3-36 months, participated in the study: 253 of the mothers were Arab and 244 were Jewish. Mothers completed the Maternal Cognitions about Infant Sleep Questionnaire, and the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. RESULTS: Cross-cultural differences in maternal sleep-related cognitions were found between Arab and Jewish mothers. Arab mothers were more likely to hold sleep-related cognitions reflecting their difficulty in limiting their nighttime intervention in response to their child's awakenings, compared to Jewish mothers who were more likely to report feelings of anger and higher levels of doubts in their parental competence in response to their child`s nocturnal awakenings. Moderation analyses demonstrated that, only for Arab mothers but not for Jewish mothers, cognitions reflecting difficulty in limiting nighttime intervention, and feelings of anger and doubts were positively associated with poorer perceived child sleep quality. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the links between maternal cognitions and child sleep are culturally-specific. Moreover, the discrepancies between Arab and Jewish mothers in sleep related cognitions may reflect differences between collectivistic and individualistic cultures. Maternal sleep-related cognitions seem to be an important parental aspect to consider in clinical sleep interventions of infants in the Arab society.

Maternal perceptions of sleep problems among children and mothers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in Israel.

Despite the marked impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the life of families and its possible negative implications for sleep, little is known about how sleep among parents and children has been impacted by this current crisis. In the present study, we addressed, for the first time, possible consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and home confinement on maternal anxiety, maternal insomnia, and maternal reports of sleep problems among children aged 6-72 months in Israel (N = 264). Our results revealed a high frequency of maternal clinical insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic: 23% during the pandemic, compared to only 11% before the pandemic (retrospective reports about 1-2 months before the pandemic). About 80% of mothers reported mild-to-high levels of current COVID-19 anxiety. The majority of mothers reported no change in their child's sleep quality, duration, and sleeping arrangement. However, about 30% reported a negative change in child's sleep quality and a decrease in sleep duration, and there were also mothers who reported a positive change. These findings suggest that the changes in sleep patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic are varied and that no unified change for the worse should be expected. Further consideration of changes in sleep within the family context during this ongoing crisis is needed.

Sleep ecology and sleep patterns among infants and toddlers: a cross-cultural comparison between the Arab and Jewish societies in Israel.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in reported sleep patterns (eg, sleep onset, nocturnal sleep duration, nocturnal wakefulness) and aspects of sleep ecology (eg, sleeping arrangements), in a sample of young children, between two cultural groups in Israel: Arab and Jewish. METHOD: Mothers of 497 healthy, typically developing infants and toddlers, ranging in age from 3 to 36 months, participated in the study: 253 of the mothers were Arab and 244 were Jewish. The mothers were asked to complete the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire - a well-validated questionnaire of early childhood sleep patterns. Mothers also completed a demographic questionnaire. RESULTS: Substantial cross-cultural differences in reported sleep patterns were found between Arab and Jewish children. Arab children, compared to Jewish children, had later bedtimes, shorter overall night duration, and longer periods of nocturnal wakefulness. Furthermore, Arab mothers perceived their children's sleep as more problematic than did Jewish mothers. Arab families were more likely to room-share, with higher rates of maternal involvement at bedtime. Sleep onset played an important role in predicting nighttime sleep in Arab children; in the Jewish group, nighttime sleep was linked to parental proximity and assistance at bedtime. CONCLUSION: The findings emphasize the importance of deepening the understanding regarding the role of culture in infants sleep patterns. This will enable health care professionals to attune their interventions to the specific cultural context. Further studies are needed to understand the basis and impacts of these cultural differences.

The relationship between individuals with fearful-avoidant adult attachment orientation and early neural responses to emotional content: An event-related potentials (ERPs) study.

OBJECTIVE: Adult attachment orientation affects the interactions of individuals with others. Fearful-avoidant individuals are characterized by both high anxiety and high avoidance. This study examines the response of individuals with fearful-avoidant attachment orientation to neutral, emotionally positive, or emotionally negative visual stimuli. METHOD: Participants included 119 undergraduate students (91 female), mean age 23.5 ± 3.6 years: 30 fearful-avoidant, 32 secure, 28 anxious-preoccupied, and 29 dismissive-avoidant. The response of individuals with fearful-avoidant attachment orientation to IAPS emotional and neutral pictures was measured using Event-Related Potential (ERP), and compared to individuals with dismissive-avoidance or anxious-preoccupied attachment orientations (with a secure attachment group as control). The study focused on early time reaction, as defined by the P1, N1, and P2 components (110-165, 165-215, and 215-280 ms poststimulus, respectively). RESULTS: We find that individuals with fearful-avoidant attachment orientation display a reaction to emotional (positive or negative) cues, at the P1 and P2 components, that is significantly different than that of individuals with anxious-preoccupied attachment, but is similar to that of individuals with dismissive-avoidant attachment. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that the initial response to emotional stimuli of individuals with fearful-avoidant attachment is dominated by avoidance, rather than anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Maternal mind-mindedness and its association with attachment: the case of Arab infants and mothers in Israel.

We examined the association between maternal Mind-Mindedness (MM) and secure attachment in an Arab sample in Israel. Seventy-six infant-mother dyads were observed during free play to assess maternal MM and in the Strange Situation Procedure to assess attachment. Mothers of secure infants were hypothesized to use more appropriate and fewer non-attuned mind-related comments than mothers of insecure infants. The results showed that mothers of secure infants used more appropriate mind-related comments than mothers of disorganized infants, with no significant differences compared to mothers of ambivalent infants. Also, mothers of secure infants used less non-attuned mind-related comments than both mothers of disorganized infants and mothers of ambivalent infants. In addition, the findings showed that: (1) mothers of secure infants were most likely to show the combination of high appropriate and low non-attuned mind-related comments; (2) mothers of disorganized infants were most likely to show the combination of high non-attuned and low appropriate mind-related comments; and (3) a nonsignificant trend indicated that mothers of ambivalent infants were most likely to show a combination of high appropriate and high non-attuned mind-related comments.The findings support the relevance of MM in an Arab sample.

Infant Attachment and Maternal Sensitivity in the Arab Minority in Israel.

This study is the first to examine infant-mother attachment in the Arab culture. Eighty-five Arab 1-year-old infants from Israel were observed in the strange situation, and maternal sensitivity was assessed from home observations. Supporting attachment theory's normativity hypothesis, no differences were found between the Arab-Israeli attachment distribution and Jewish-Israeli, Western, and non-Western distributions when examined at the two-way secure versus insecure level, although a few differences emerged when examined at the four-way ABCD level. Supporting the sensitivity hypothesis, mothers of secure infants were more sensitive than those of insecure infants but only in the case of Christian (and not Muslim) mothers. The findings provide support to attachment theory's generalizability but raise questions regarding the assessment of maternal sensitivity cross-culturally.