Longitudinal associations between parental reflective functioning and maternal mind-mindedness.

Little work has examined longitudinal associations between parental reflective functioning (PRF) and mind-mindedness (MM), limiting the understanding of separate or bidirectional trajectories of these related but distinct forms of mentalization. We examined cross-lagged associations between PRF, assessed via interview, and MM, coded from play interactions, over 12 months among 90 parents (86% female; 57% White, 43% Black) of infants (Mage = 10.56 months, SD = 8.20) who were participating in The Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting. Data were collected at study enrollment Time 1 (T1) and at 6-month Time 2 (T2) and 12-month Time 3 (T3) postenrollment. Mind-minded comments were coded as appropriate, reflecting accurate interpretation of mental states or nonattuned, characterizing inaccurate interpretations. PRF and appropriate MM each remained stable over time. PRF at the T1 positively predicted appropriate MM at T2. No other cross-lagged associations between PRF and appropriate MM were significant. Concurrent correlations between appropriate MM and PRF were significant only at T3. Nonattuned MM showed stability from T1 to T2 but nonattuned MM at the T2 did not predict nonattuned MM at T3. Greater PRF at T1 predicted less nonattuned MM at T2. No other cross-lagged associations between PRF and nonattuned MM were significant. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Relationships reduce risks for child maltreatment: Results of an experimental trial of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting.

Background: Research examining the effectiveness of home visiting programs that reduce child maltreatment or associated risks yield mixed findings; some find positive significant impacts on maltreatment, whereas others find small to no effects. The Michigan Model of Infant Mental Health Home Visiting (IMH-HV) is a manualized, needs-driven, relationship-focused, home-based intervention service that significantly impacts maternal and child outcomes; the effect of this intervention on child maltreatment has not been sufficiently evaluated. Objective: The current study examined associations between treatment and dosage of IMH-HV and child abuse potential in a longitudinal, randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants and setting: Participants included 66 mother-infant dyads (Mother M age = 31.93 years at baseline; child M age = 11.22 months at baseline) who received up to 1 year of IMH-HV treatment (Mdn = 32 visits) or no IMH-HV treatment during the study period. Methods: Mothers completed a battery of assessments including the Brief Child Abuse Potential Inventory (BCAP) at baseline and at the 12-month follow-up assessment. Results: Regression analyses indicated that after controlling for baseline BCAP scores, those who received any IMH-HV treatment had lower 12-month BCAP scores compared to those who received no treatment. Additionally, participation in more visits was associated with lower child abuse potential at 12 months, and a reduced likelihood of scoring in the risk range. Conclusion: Findings suggest that greater participation in IMH-HV is associated with decreased risk for child maltreatment 1 year after initiating treatment. IMH-HV promotes parent-clinician therapeutic alliance and provides infant-parent psychotherapy which differentiate it from traditional home visiting programs.

Conducting Virtual Assessments in Developmental Research: COVID-19 Restrictions as a Case Example.

Developmental researchers face considerable challenges regarding maximizing data collection and reducing participant attrition. In this article, we use our experiences implementing our study on the effects of timing of prenatal stress on maternal and infant outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic as a framework to discuss the difficulties and solutions for these challenges, including the development of two types of virtual assessments. Specific information regarding use of virtual platforms, confidentiality, engaging children during video conferencing, and modifying the major assessments of our research are discussed. Feasibility data are presented, and data analytic challenges regarding statistical inference are outlined. Finally, we conclude with some of the unintended positive consequences for our research that resulted from making these modifications to our original methods.

Infant mental health home visiting: intervention dosage and therapist experience interact to support improvements in maternal reflective functioning.

This study examined changes in parental reflective functioning (PRF) among mothers enrolled in Infant Mental Health-Home Visiting (IMH-HV) and explored whether parental risk, treatment dosage or therapist experience predicted change in PRF. Participants included 75 mothers and their children who were enrolled in IMH-HV delivered by Community Mental Health therapists. Results indicated significant improvements in PRF from baseline to 12-months. Maternal demographic and psychosocial risk, therapist experience and treatment dosage were not directly associated with changes in PRF. However, Mothers who received more treatment sessions from therapists with six or more years of experience demonstrated the greatest improvements in PRF, while mothers who received more treatment sessions from therapists who had been practicing IMH for less than 15 months showed a decline in PRF. Therapists working with very high-risk families may need specific training and ongoing reflective supervision over a period of years to promote improvement in PRF.

Maternal caregiving representations of the infant in the first year of life: Associations with prenatal and concurrent reflective functioning.

Few studies have examined whether maternal caregiving representations are associated with maternal reflective functioning (MRF), especially when MRF is evaluated longitudinally beginning in pregnancy. This study addresses this gap by evaluating whether prenatal and postnatal MRF are associated with mothers' caregiving representations assessed at 7 months postpartum, and by exploring theoretically unexpected MRF scores in each of the representational categories. Forty-seven mothers were recruited during their last trimester of pregnancy from an obstetrics clinic at a university hospital located in a large mid-western city in the United States. During pregnancy, mothers completed the Pregnancy Interview, and at 7 months postpartum they completed the Parent Development Interview (PDI) and the Working Model of the Child Interview. Results indicate that higher prenatal and postnatal MRF increased the odds of being classified as balanced versus disengaged. At 7 months, MRF also increased the odds of being balanced vs. distorted. Ten mothers who were classified as balanced or distorted had unexpected prenatal MRF scores, and six mothers had unexpected MRF scores when representations were assessed concurrently. Mothers classified as balanced with low MRF scores tended to have a low level of education, whereas mothers classified as distorted with high MRF scores had responses that were hostile, helpless, and role-reversed.

Pocos estudios han examinado el hecho de si las representaciones maternas acerca del cuidado están asociadas con el funcionamiento reflexivo materno (MRF), especialmente cuando MRF se evalúa longitudinalmente comenzando en el embarazo. Este estudio aborda este vacío por medio de evaluar si el MRF prenatal y postnatal está asociado con las representaciones que las madres tienen de prestar el cuidado evaluadas a los 7 meses después del parto, y por medio de explorar teoréticamente los puntajes no esperados de MRF en cada categoría representativa. Se reclutaron cuarenta y siete madres durante su último trimestre de embarazo del hospital de una universidad localizado en una ciudad del medio oeste de los Estados Unidos. Durante el embarazo, las madres completaron la Entrevista de Embarazo y a los 7 meses después del parto ellas completaron la Entrevista del Desarrollo del Progenitor y el Modelo de Trabajo de la Entrevista del Niño. Los resultados indican que el más alto MRF prenatal y postnatal también aumentó las posibilidades de ser clasificada como equilibrada vs. indiferente. A los 7 meses, el MRF también aumentó las posibilidades de ser equilibrada vs. distorsionada. Diez madres a quienes se les clasificó como equilibradas o distorsionadas tuvieron puntajes de MRF prenatales no esperados, y seis madres tuvieron no esperados puntajes de MRF cuando las representaciones fueron evaluadas al mismo tiempo. Las madres a quienes se les clasificó como equilibradas con bajos puntajes de MRF tendían a tener un nivel bajo de educación, mientras que las madres a quienes se les clasificó como distorsionadas con puntajes altos de MRF tuvieron respuestas que eran hostiles, indefensas y de inversión de papeles.

Peu d'études ont examiné si les représentations du soin maternel sont liées au fonctionnement réflectif maternel (abrégé ici selon l'anglais maternal reflective functioning, soit MRF), surtout lorsque le MRF est évalué de manière longitudinale à commencer par la grossesse. Cette étude porte sur cet écart en évaluant si le MRF prénatal et postnatal est lié aux représentations du soin des mères évalué à 7 mois postpartum, et en explorant des scores MRF théoriquement inattendus dans chacune des catégories représentationnelles. Quarante-sept mères ont été recrutées durant leur dernier trimestre de grossesse dans un CHU situé dans une grande ville du centre des Etats-Unis. Durant la grossesse les mères ont passé l'Entretien de Grossesse et à 7 mois postpartum elles ont passé l'Entretien du Développement du Parent et le Modèle de Travail de l'Entretien de l'Enfant. Les résultats indiquent qu'un MRF prénatal et postnatal élevé augmentait les chances d'être classé comme équilibrée par rapport à désengagée. A 7 mois, le MRF augmentait aussi les chances d'être équilibrée par rapport à faussée. Dix mères qui ont été classées comme étant équilibrées ou faussées avaient des scores de MRF prénatal inattendus et six mères avaient des scores de MRF inattendu quand les représentations étaient évaluées en même temps. Les mères classées comme équilibrées avec des scores de MRF bas tendaient à avoir un niveau d'éducation plus bas, alors que les mères classées comme faussées avec des scores de MRF élevés ont fait preuve de réactions qui étaient hostiles, désemparées et de rôle inversé.

Permanency and well-being outcomes for maltreated infants: Pilot results from an infant-toddler court team.

BACKGROUND: Evaluations of infant-toddler court teams suggest improvements related to permanency, service provision, and parenting. However, findings regarding permanency are limited in that they do not capture children who remain in care for long periods. Less is known about how court teams impact child development. OBJECTIVE: The first two objectives are to describe baseline development for a small group of infants and toddlers participating in a pilot court team project and to explore changes in their development and behavior. The third objective is to describe permanency outcomes. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Infants and toddlers (n = 25) under court jurisdiction for substantiated maltreatment and their parents participated in pre-and posttest evaluation of a pilot court team project. All dyads were referred to a parenting intervention, Infant Mental Health Home Visiting. Infant development was assessed using the Bayley-III and behavior was assessed in the Crowell parent-child interaction task. Court records were reviewed for permanency outcomes. RESULTS: Thirty-five percent of children had a developmental delay at program entry and showed significant improvements in expressive language development (p < .01). Increases in prosocial behavior were seen in domains of positive affect (p < .05) and enthusiasm (p < .02) and significant reductions child withdrawal (p < .06). More than two-thirds of children were reunified with their parent(s) and they spent an average of 18.7 months in out-of- home care. CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings add to the limited literature on the potential impact that infant-toddler court teams can have on permanency and well-being.

Infant sleep moderates the effect of infant temperament on maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and family functioning.

Observed infant temperamental difficulty and infant sleep efficiency and sleep variability were examined as predictors of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and family functioning. Eight observations at 8-months postpartum were used to assess infant temperament, and actigraphy was used to measure infant sleep for 1-week at the time of the 8-month assessment. Structured clinical interviews were used to assess maternal depressive symptoms between 5 and 12 months postpartum and at 15 months postpartum, and observational assessments were used to assess maternal sensitivity and family functioning at 15 months postpartum. Variability in infant sleep moderated the effect of infant temperament on maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and family functioning. Infant temperament was positively associated with maternal depressive symptoms when variability in infant sleep efficiency was high, but not when variability in infant sleep efficiency was low. Likewise, infant temperament was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity and family functioning when variability in infant sleep efficiency was high, but not when variability in infant sleep efficiency was low. Results underscore the importance of infant sleep for maternal and family health.

Infant mental health home visiting in the context of an infant-toddler court team: Changes in parental responsiveness and reflective functioning.

This article describes an infant-toddler court team in Michigan, the community-based participatory research approach to the implementation evaluation, and the resulting changes in parenting. Like other court teams, Michigan's Baby Court is led by a science-informed jurist, and all service providers are knowledgeable about the developmental needs of young children and engage in collaborative communication throughout the case. Relationship-based treatment in the form of infant mental health home-visiting was provided to families. Sixteen parents participated in pre- and posttest evaluation visits to assess changes in parents' reflective functioning and interactions with their child. Findings suggest improvements in parents' responsiveness, positive affect, and reflective functioning, with moderate effects. Higher risk parents demonstrated significant changes in reflective functioning, as compared to those at lower risk. These findings add to and support the limited literature on the effectiveness of infant-toddler court teams, which include relationship-based and trauma-informed services.

Este artículo describe un equipo judicial para casos de infantes y niños pequeños en Michigan, el acercamiento de investigación participativo basado en la comunidad para la evaluación de la implementación, así como los resultantes cambios en la crianza. Como otros equipos judiciales, El Tribunal de Michigan para los Bebés está encabezado por un jurista versado en la ciencia y todos los servidores tienen conocimiento acerca de las necesidades de desarrollo de los niños pequeños y participan en la comunicación colaborativa a lo largo del caso. Las familias recibieron un tratamiento con base en la relación, en forma de Visitas de Salud Mental Infantil a Casa. Dieciséis progenitores participaron en la evaluación anterior y posterior a la examinación con el fin de evaluar los cambios en el funcionamiento reflexivo de los padres y las interacciones con su niño. Los resultados sugieren mejoramientos en la sensibilidad de los progenitores, el afecto positivo y el funcionamiento reflexivo, con efectos moderados. Los progenitores de más alto riesgo demostraron cambios significativos en el funcionamiento reflexivo comparados con aquellos de más bajo riesgo. Estos resultados contribuyen y apoyan los estudios impresos acerca de la efectividad de los equipos judiciales para casos de infantes y niños pequeños, los cuales incluyen servicios basados en la relación y fundados en la comprensión del trauma.

Cet article décrit une équipe au tribunal des bébés-jeunes enfants dans l'état américain du Michigan, une approche de recherche participatoire basée sur la communauté au sujet de l'évaluation de la mise en œuvre et les changements résultants dans le parentage. Comme les autres tribunaux le Tribunal pour Bébés du Michigan est dirigé par un juriste qui s'informe à partir de données scientifiques. Tous les prestataires de service sont au fait des besoins en matière de développement des jeunes enfants, et ils procèdent à une communication collaborative tout au long du cas. Un traitement basé sur la relation sous la forme de Visites à Domiciles de Santé Mentale du Nourrisson a été offert aux familles. Seize parents ont participé à des visites d'évaluation pré- et post-test afin d'évaluer les changements dans le fonctionnement de réflexion des parents et dans les interactions avec leur enfant. Les résultats suggèrent des améliorations dans la réaction des parents, l'affect positif et le fonctionnement de réflexion, avec des effets modérés. Les parents au risque le plus élevé ont fait preuve de changements importants dans le fonctionnement de réflexion par rapport à ceux qui étaient à moindre risque. Ces résultats s'ajoutent aux recherches limitées sur l'efficacité des équipes de tribunal pour nourrisson-jeune enfant (qui comportent les services basés sur la relation et les services basés sur le trauma) et les soutiennent.

The Role of Mindful Parenting in Individual and Social Decision-Making in Children.

Children are confronted with an increasing amount of choices every day, which can be stressful. Decision-making skills may be one of the most important "21st century skills" that children need to master to ensure success. Many aspects of decision-making, such as emotion regulation during stressful situations, develop in the context of caregiver-child interactions. This study examined whether mindful parenting predicts children's individual and social decision-making. The current study included 63 mother-child dyads from The Netherlands (Child Mage  = 5.11, SD = 0.88, 50.8% girls). Mothers completed the Dutch version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P). A "Choice Task" was developed to measure individual decision-making skills, and a "Sharing Task" was created to measure social decision-making in young children. Higher maternal mindful parenting significantly predicted more sharing after controlling for covariates (child age, sex, SES, maternal education level; Wald = 4.505, p = 0.034). No main effect of maternal mindful parenting was found for any of the individual decision-making measures. These findings suggest that mindful parenting supports children's social decision-making. Future research should investigate if the combination of mindful parenting and children's early decision-making skills predict key developmental outcomes.

Prenatal neural origins of infant motor development: Associations between fetal brain and infant motor development.

Functional circuits of the human brain emerge and change dramatically over the second half of gestation. It is possible that variation in neural functional system connectivity in utero predicts individual differences in infant behavioral development, but this possibility has yet to be examined. The current study examines the association between fetal sensorimotor brain system functional connectivity and infant postnatal motor ability. Resting-state functional connectivity data was obtained in 96 healthy human fetuses during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Infant motor ability was measured 7 months after birth using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Increased connectivity between the emerging motor network and regions of the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, posterior cingulate, and supplementary motor regions was observed in infants that showed more mature motor functions. In addition, females demonstrated stronger fetal-brain to infant-behavior associations. These observations extend prior longitudinal research back into prenatal brain development and raise exciting new ideas about the advent of risk and the ontogeny of early sex differences.

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

This study examined relationships among maternal reflective functioning, parenting, infant attachment, and demographic risk in a relatively large (N = 83) socioeconomically diverse sample of women with and without a history of childhood maltreatment and their infants. Most prior research on parental reflective functioning has utilized small homogenous samples. Reflective functioning was assessed with the Parent Development Interview, parenting was coded from videotaped mother-child interactions, and infant attachment was evaluated in Ainsworth's Strange Situation by independent teams of reliable coders masked to maternal history. Reflective functioning was associated with parenting sensitivity and secure attachment, and inversely associated with demographic risk and parenting negativity; however, it was not associated with maternal maltreatment history or PTSD. Parenting sensitivity mediated the relationship between reflective functioning and infant attachment, controlling for demographic risk. Findings are discussed in the context of prior research on reflective functioning and the importance of targeting reflective functioning in interventions.

Parenting and attachment among low-income African American and Caucasian preschoolers.

Despite a plethora of research on parenting and infant attachment, much less is known about the contributions of parenting to preschool attachment, particularly within different racial groups. This study seeks to build on the extant literature by evaluating whether similar associations between parenting and attachment can be observed in African American and Caucasian families, and whether race moderates them. Seventy-four primary caregivers and their preschool children (51% African American, 49% Caucasian, 46% male) from similar urban, low-income backgrounds participated in two visits 4 weeks apart when children were between 4 and 5 years of age. Attachment was scored from videotapes of the Strange Situation paradigm using the preschool classification system developed by Cassidy, Marvin, and the MacArthur Working Group. Parenting was assessed using a multimethod, multicontext approach: in the child's home, in the laboratory, and via parent-report. Seventy-three percent of the children were classified as securely attached. Warm, responsive parenting behavior (but not race) predicted attachment. Although parents of African American and Caucasian children demonstrated some significant differences in parenting behaviors, race did not moderate the relationship between parenting and child attachment. These findings highlight the direct role that parenting plays over and above race in determining attachment security during the preschool period.