Is it too much for me? General self-efficacy and emotional reactions to infant's cry

From co-regulation to self-regulation: Maternal soothing strategies and self-efficacy in relation to maternal reports of infant regulation at 3 and 7 months

This study, conducted in Germany, examines the role of maternal soothing strategies to explain the association of maternal self-efficacy with infant regulation (crying and sleeping behavior). Questionnaire data of 150 mothers, living in Germany, with mixed ethnic and educational backgrounds were collected when infants were 3 and 7 months old. Two types of maternal soothing strategies were distinguished: close soothing, involving close physical and emotional contact, and distant soothing, involving physical and emotional distancing from the infant. A cross-sectional SEM at 3 months indicated that maternal self-efficacy is associated with reported infant regulation through distant soothing strategies. Low maternal self-efficacy was associated with frequent maternal use of distant soothing, which in turn was related to reported infant regulation problems, that is, non-soothability and greater crying frequency. Frequent use of close soothing was associated with reported infant sleeping behavior, that is, frequent night-time awakenings. A longitudinal SEM further indicated that the effects of close soothing persisted at least until the infants' age of 7 months. The study showed how low maternal self-efficacy, increased use of distant soothing, and reported early infant regulation problems are intertwined and that, due to their persisting positive effect on infant soothability, close soothing better supports infant development.

How Well Do Couples Care When They Are Expecting Their First Child? Family and Dyadic Predictors of Parental Sensitivity in Expectant Couples

Belsky's Process Model points to family-of-origin (especially experiences of mistreatment in childhood) as well as personality and marital relations as determinants of parenting quality, including parental sensitive responsiveness. Parental sensitivity might be intuitively developed during pregnancy and affects perinatal mental health. However, there is a lack of studies investigating effects of family-of-origin and relationship perceptions on expectant couples' parental sensitive responsiveness. The aim of the presented study was to test mediation and moderation effects of perceived partner's empathic concern and retrospectively assessed abuse experienced in childhood on sensitive parental responsiveness operationalized as caretaking behaviors and emotional reactions to a crying life-like doll. One hundred eleven expectant couples (N = 222; age: M _women = 28.4 years, SD = 3.03; age: M _men = 29.2 years, SD = 3.31; relationship duration: M _years = 6.8, SD = 3.43; gestational week: M = 31.3, SD = 4.58) assessed the extent to which they experienced physical and emotional abuse from their parents in childhood and rated their current partner's empathic concern. In the experimental procedure, couples reacted to a crying life-like doll and were assessed by trained psychologists using the modified Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale to measure couples' sensitive responsiveness. The results confirmed a significant mediational effect of perceived women's (and not men's) empathic concern for the relationship between the reported experience of abuse in family-of-origin by expectant fathers (and not mothers) and couples' sensitivity. Support and interventions regarding couples' empathy and parenting competence can be offered to both mothers and fathers to identify those who are at risk of low parental sensitivity.