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Bain M, Park S, Zaidi A, Atif N, Rahman A, Malik A, Surkan PJ. Social Support and Spousal Relationship Quality Improves Responsiveness among Anxious Mothers. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 2024:10.1007/s10578-024-01702-5. [PMID: 38609719 DOI: 10.1007/s10578-024-01702-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
Maternal responsiveness, a mother's ability to consistently identify infant cues and then act on them, is critical for healthy child development. A woman's social support and spousal relationship may affect responsiveness to an infant, especially among mothers with anxiety. We assessed how social support and spousal relationship quality is associated with responsiveness among anxious mothers, and if postpartum depression (PPD) moderated these associations. Cross-sectional data were collected from 2019 to 2022 in a public hospital in Pakistan from 701 women at six-weeks postpartum. Eligible women had at least mild anxiety in early- to mid- pregnancy. Linear regression analyses assessed if spousal relationship quality and social support from family and friends were associated with maternal responsiveness, measured using the Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument. Interaction terms were used to examine if PPD moderated these associations. Spousal relationship quality (B = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.48, 3.50) and social support (B = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.83) were positively related to maternal responsiveness to the infant. Emotional support from a spouse was positively associated with responsiveness (B = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.12, 2.03 depressed; B = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.34, 4.58 non-depressed), and conflict with the spouse was negatively associated with responsiveness (B=-1.02, 95% CI: -1.94, -0.09 depressed; B=-2.87, 95% CI: -4.36, -1.37 non-depressed). However, social support was related to responsiveness only in non-depressed women (B = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.14, 4.07). While spousal relationships and social support enhance maternal responsiveness, for depressed women, spousal relationships were particularly critical. In considering maternal-infant interventions to improve child development outcomes, our study indicates the importance of supportive relationships that foster effective responsiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miranda Bain
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Soim Park
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA
| | - Ahmed Zaidi
- Public Mental Health Department, Health Services Academy, PM Health Complex, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Najia Atif
- Human Development Research Foundation, Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Gujar Khan Campus, Near Government Rural Health Center Mandra, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
| | - Atif Rahman
- Human Development Research Foundation, Global Institute of Human Development, Shifa Tameer-e-Millat University, Gujar Khan Campus, Near Government Rural Health Center Mandra, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- Department of Primary Care and Mental Health, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, 1-5 Dover Street, Liverpool, L69 3GL, UK
| | - Abid Malik
- Public Mental Health Department, Health Services Academy, PM Health Complex, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Pamela J Surkan
- Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
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Bigelow AE, Power M, Dadgar H. Maternal mind-mindedness over infants' first three months. Infant Behav Dev 2023; 72:101864. [PMID: 37454575 DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2023.101864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2022] [Revised: 06/23/2023] [Accepted: 07/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/18/2023]
Abstract
Maternal mind-mindedness refers to mothers' ability to reflect upon their infants' mental states and respond appropriately. The present study assessed mind-mindedness longitudinally from the newborn period to the infant age of three months. The study is the first to assess maternal mind-mindedness in the infant's early life prior to three months (one week, one month, two months, three months). To measure maternal mind-mindedness, mothers' speech to their infants is coded for mental state comments about the infants' thoughts, desires, and emotions. Appropriate mind-minded comments are judged to accurately reflect the infants' mental states; non-attuned mind-minded comments are judged to misinterpret the infants' mental states. Mothers' individual stability (rank order stability) and group level continuity (mean level of stability across the infant ages) were assessed. Mothers showed modest temporal stability in both appropriate and non-attuned mind-mindedness over the infants' first three months. The continuity of mind-mindedness showed that appropriate mind-mindedness increased over the infant ages, but non-attuned mind-mindedness showed no change. In infants' early lives, mothers' ability to accurately interpret their infants' mental states is enhanced as the mother-infant relationship develops and infants become more communicative partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ann E Bigelow
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada.
| | - Michelle Power
- Department of Psychology, St. Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
| | - Hadi Dadgar
- Department of Psychology, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
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Somers JA, Chu K, Schwartz C, Towner E, Callaghan B. Sometimes "we" can help: parents' pronoun use buffers fear and anxiety transmission. ANXIETY, STRESS, AND COPING 2023; 36:488-501. [PMID: 36153744 PMCID: PMC10038937 DOI: 10.1080/10615806.2022.2127694] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Revised: 09/17/2022] [Accepted: 09/19/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Parents' natural language when describing health-related threats reflects parents' cognitions that may shape their transmission of anxiety and fear. Parents' greater communal focus (i.e., higher we-talk) and less self-focus (i.e., lower I-talk) may buffer against intergenerational fear/anxiety transmission. The current study investigated whether the relation between parents' and children's anxiety and pandemic-related fear differed by parent we- and I-talk. DESIGN AND METHODS Parents of 114 children (2-19 years; M = 9.75, SD = 3.73) completed online measures assessing children's and parents' anxiety and COVID-19-related fears, and engaged in a written reflection on their early pandemic experiences. The proportion of parents' we-talk and I-talk during the reflection was obtained using Linguistic Inquiry Word Count software. RESULTS Results of multilevel structural equation models were partially consistent with expectations: The protective effect of we-talk was only observed for parents with lower fear/anxiety. For parents with higher fear/anxiety, higher I-talk was associated with lower child fear/anxiety. At higher levels of parent we-talk and at lower levels of I-talk, there was an unexpectedly positive association between parents' and children's fear/anxiety. CONCLUSIONS The concordance between parents' and their children's fear/anxiety differs depending on parents' natural language when reflecting on the pandemic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A. Somers
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Kristen Chu
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Chloe Schwartz
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Emily Towner
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Bridget Callaghan
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
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Foley S, Badinlou F, Brocki KC, Frick MA, Ronchi L, Hughes C. Family Function and Child Adjustment Difficulties in the COVID-19 Pandemic: An International Study. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH 2021; 18:11136. [PMID: 34769654 PMCID: PMC8582895 DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182111136] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
To estimate specific proximal and distal effects of COVID-19-related restrictions on families on children's adjustment problems, we conducted a six-site international study. In total, 2516 parents from Australia, China, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America living with a young child (Mage = 5.77, SD = 1.10, range = 3 to 8 years, 47.9% female) completed an online survey between April and July 2020. The survey included the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and family risk factors (parent distress, parent-child conflict, couple conflict, and household chaos) as well as a scale to index COVID-19-related family disruption. Our analyses also included public data on the stringency of national restrictions. Across the six sites, parental responses indicated elevated levels of hyperactivity, conduct, and emotion problems in children from families characterized by heightened levels of parent distress, parent-child conflict, and household chaos. In contrast, increased peer problems were more strongly related to COVID-19-related social disruption and stringency measures. Mediation models demonstrated that associations between COVID-19 social disruption and child difficulties could be explained by parental distress. Taken together, these results suggest that although the experience of the pandemic differed across countries, associations between COVID-19-related family experiences and child adjustment difficulties were similar in their nature and magnitude across six different contexts. Programs to support family resilience could help buffer the impact of the pandemic for two generations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Foley
- Moray House School of Education and Sport, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 8AQ, UK
| | - Farzaneh Badinlou
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden; (F.B.); (K.C.B.); (M.A.F.)
- Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 117 63 Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Karin C. Brocki
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden; (F.B.); (K.C.B.); (M.A.F.)
| | - Matilda A. Frick
- Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, 751 42 Uppsala, Sweden; (F.B.); (K.C.B.); (M.A.F.)
| | - Luca Ronchi
- Department of Brain and Behavioural Sciences, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Claire Hughes
- Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3RQ, UK;
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