Article2016

Prenatal Reflective Functioning and Accumulated Risk as Predictors of Maternal Interactive Behavior During Free Play, the Still‐Face Paradigm, and Two Teaching Tasks

Hanneke J. A. Smaling · Stephan C. J. Huijbregts · Jill Suurland · Kristiaan B. van der Heijden · Judi Mesman · Stephanie H.M. van Goozen +1 more

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Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Psychoanalysis and Psychopathology Research Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum

Abstract

This study examined whether prenatal reflective functioning (RF) was related to mothers’ interactive style across contexts with their 6‐month‐old infants (Mage = 6.02 months,SD = 0.41, 54% boys), and to what extent quality of prenatalRFcould account for the influence of accumulated risk on maternal interactive behavior. Accumulated risk was defined as the sum‐score of a selection of risk factors that have been associated with suboptimal infant development. Mother–infant dyads (N = 133) were observed during free play, two teaching tasks, and the Still‐Face Paradigm (SFP). Better prenatalRFwas associated with more positive maternal behavior in all settings and less negative behavior during teaching andSFPreengagement. Accumulated risk and prenatalRFpredicted shared variance in maternal interactive behavior (with unique predictive effects observed only forRFon sensitivity during teaching andSFPplay, and for accumulated risk on sensitivity and positive engagement duringSFPplay, and internalizing‐helplessness duringSFPreengagement). Accumulated risk had an indirect effect on maternal sensitivity during teaching andSFPplay through prenatalRF. These findings suggest not only thatRFmay be targeted prenatally to improve mother–infant interactions, but also that enhancingRFskills may ameliorate some of the negative consequences from more stable perinatal risk factors that influence parent–child interactions.

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References

1978Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation 2018Affect Regulation, Mentalization, and the Development of the Self 1978The Infant's Response to Entrapment between Contradictory Messages in Face-to-Face Interaction 2005Parental reflective functioning: An introduction 2009A developmental, mentalization-based approach to the understanding and treatment of borderline personality disorder 2004When more is not better: the role of cumulative risk in child behavior outcomes 2010Attachment security and disorganization in maltreating and high-risk families: A series of meta-analyses 1987Intelligence Quotient Scores of 4-Year-Old Children: Social-Environmental Risk Factors

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