Parental beliefs, infant temperament, and marital quality: Associations with infant–mother and infant–father attachment.

The present research examined parental beliefs about the importance of the paternal caregiving role, mothers’ and fathers’ reports of infant temperament, and observed marital quality as predictors of infant-mother and infant-father attachment security, over and above the effects of parental sensitivity. Infants’ attachment security to mothers and fathers were observed in the Strange Situation at 12- and 13-months, respectively (N = 62 two-parent families). Hierarchical regression models revealed that mothers who viewed the paternal caregiving role as important were less likely to have securely attached infants, but only when infant fussiness was high. Additionally, fathers who viewed the paternal caregiving role as important were more likely to have securely attached infants, but only when infants’ fussiness or marital quality was high

Parents’ differential susceptibility to the effects of marital quality on sensitivity across the first year

The current investigation examined the differential susceptibility of parents to the effects of marital quality on changes in parenting. We predicted that parents who were high on the personality constructs Negative Affect and Constraint would be more susceptible to the effects of marital quality on their level of sensitivity. Sensitivity was assessed at 3.5 and 13 months for both mothers and fathers during a triadic interaction. Consistent with the differential susceptibility theory, results suggested that when mothers were high on Negative Affect and when fathers were high on Constraint, their marital quality was associated with changes in sensitivity. This investigation suggests that personality factors may create “vulnerabilities” in parents that make them differentially susceptible to the effects of the family environment on parentin

Examining Ecological Constraints on the Intergenerational Transmission of Attachment Via Individual Participant Data Meta-analysis

Parents\u2019 attachment representations and child\u2013parent attachment have been shown to be associated, but these associations vary across populations (Verhage et al., 2016). The current study examined whether ecological factors may explain variability in the strength of intergenerational transmission of attachment, using individual participant data (IPD) meta-analysis. Analyses on 4,396 parent\u2013child dyads (58 studies, child age 11\u201396 months) revealed a combined effect size of r =.29. IPD meta-analyses revealed that effect sizes for the transmission of autonomous-secure representations to secure attachments were weaker under risk conditions and weaker in adolescent parent\u2013child dyads, whereas transmission was stronger for older children. Findings support the ecological constraints hypothesis on attachment transmission. Implications for attachment theory and the use of IPD meta-analysis are discusse

Conceptual comparison of constructs as first step in data harmonization: Parental sensitivity, child temperament, and social support as illustrations

This article presents a strategy for the initial step of data harmonization in Individual Participant Data syntheses, i.e., making decisions as to which measures operationalize the constructs of interest - and which do not. This step is vital in the process of data harmonization, because a study can only be as good as its measures. If the construct validity of the measures is in question, study results are questionable as well. Our proposed strategy for data harmonization consists of three steps. First, a unitary construct is defined based on the existing literature, preferably on the theoretical framework surrounding the construct. Second, the various instruments used to measure the construct are evaluated as operationalizations of this construct, and retained or excluded based on this evaluation. Third, the scores of the included measures are recoded on the same metric. We illustrate the use of this method with three example constructs focal to the Collaboration on Attachment Transmission Synthesis (CATS) study: parental sensitivity, child temperament, and social support. This process description may aid researchers in their data pooling studies, filling a gap in the literature on the first step of data harmonization. • Data harmonization in studies using combined datasets is of vital importance for the validity of the study results. • We have developed and illustrated a strategy on how to define a unitary construct and evaluate whether instruments are operationalizations of this construct as the initial step in the harmonization process. • This strategy is a transferable and reproducible method to apply to the data harmonization process

From expecting to experiencing: Sources of resilient parenting self-efficacy

Expectation of competence in parenting infants, or parenting self-efficacy (PSE), is an elusive concept both for parents and professionals. High PSE may have different consequences for infant development depending on the basis of PSE (e.g., actual experience vs. persuasion). High PSE may also not be maintained when actual parenting starts. Experimental studies, intervention studies, and longitudinal studies starting during pregnancy are yielding novel findings on PSE, which serve as input for a discussion that should deepen understanding of PSE and increase the utility of the concept for practice. The first presentation tests robustness of PSE in two ways. The first approach is based on a computerized task in which prenatal PSE was challenged among 179 pregnant women by manipulating success in regulating the baby. The second approach followed first-time mothers (intended N=1000) across all trimesters of pregnancy and during the first year to examine patterns of change in PSE in relation to infant temperament. Analyses of the experimental data demonstrated that PSE decreased in response to regulation difficulty. The longitudinal data (preliminary n = 138) indicated that PSE on average increased across pregnancy and first year, but not for mothers of more irritable babies. Is there a common mechanism involved? The second presentation focuses on the course of PSE from pregnancy to 9 months postpartum in 180 new mothers and fathers, and the role that coparenting support plays in initial levels of PSE and change in PSE over time. Expectant parents completed a survey regarding task-specific PSE during the third trimester of pregnancy, and again 3 months and 9 months after their infant’s birth. At 3 months and 9 months postpartum, new parents completed a survey about coparenting. Preliminary SEM analyses of associations between PSE and coparenting support over time indicate that for fathers, increases in PSE from 3 to 9 months postpartum were precipitated by greater perceived coparenting support, but a similar effect was not observed for mothers. The third presentation focuses on PSE and early persistent infant behavior disturbance (i.e., excessive crying, sleeping and feeding difficulties in the first year postpartum). The study included 80 first-time mothers participating in a residential parent-infant intervention with an unsettled infant. Results show clear associations between infant behavior and PSE, and support the effectiveness of the intervention with respect to both variables. Associations between PSE and various maternal variables including depression and anxiety, attachment security and perceived parenting during childhood will also be reported and discussed. Professor Bryanne Barnett will relate in her discussion to links with perinatal mental health, to open up the discussion with the symposium participants about including PSE in building resilience in at-risk families

New Fathers’ Perceptions of Dyadic Adjustment: The Roles of Maternal Gatekeeping and Coparenting Closeness

Although the association between maternal gatekeeping and relationship functioning has been explored by a few studies, none of these have focused on fathers’ perceptions of these constructs. Given that today\u27s new fathers are challenged by elevated expectations for active parenting and coparenting even as most new mothers remain primary caregivers of infant children, this is a critical omission. This study examined the associations between new fathers’ perceptions of maternal gatekeeping and change in dyadic adjustment as mediated through coparenting closeness. Maternal gatekeeping was reported by 182 fathers at 3 months postpartum, coparenting closeness was reported at 3 and 6 months postpartum, and dyadic adjustment was reported during the third trimester of pregnancy and at 9 months postpartum. Fathers’ perceptions of relative change in coparenting closeness from 3 to 6 months mediated associations between fathers’ perceptions of maternal gatekeeping at 3 months and relative change in dyadic adjustment from the third trimester to 9 months postpartum. In particular, findings indicate that greater perceived maternal gate opening was associated with higher levels of dyadic adjustment through higher levels of coparenting closeness, whereas greater perceived maternal gate closing was associated with lower levels of dyadic adjustment through lower levels of coparenting closeness. This study highlights the importance of studying fathers in the context of the family system and the role of the coparenting relationship at the transition to parenthood in couple relationship functioning

Changes in sensitivity during infancy: Effects of marital quality and parental personality.

The current investigation examined the differential susceptibility of parents to the effects of marital quality on changes in parenting. We predicted that parents who were high on the personality constructs Negative Affect and Constraint would be more susceptible to the effects of marital quality on their level of sensitivity. Sensitivity was assessed at 3.5 and 13 months for both mothers and fathers during a triadic interaction. Consistent with the differential susceptibility theory, results suggested that when mothers were high on Negative Affect and when fathers were high on Constraint, their marital quality was associated with changes in sensitivity. This investigation suggests that personality factors may create “vulnerabilities” in parents that make them differentially susceptible to the effects of the family environment on parentin