Fancine 2009, n. 03

Abstract not availabl

Le diagnostic précoce des troubles du comportement externalisé est-il fiable ? Mise à l’épreuve d’une procédure multi informateurs et multi méthodes

peer reviewedCette contribution questionne la fiabilité du diagnostic précoce des troubles du comportement externalisé chez l’enfant. Les données concernant le comportement de 118 enfants ont été collectées par questionnaires et observation auprès de leurs parents, leurs enseignants et les cliniciens lors du recrutement et après 12 mois. Les résultats montrent des variations importantes dans le nombre d’enfants atteignant un seuil clinique selon l’informateur et la méthode considérés. Une méthode combinant les évaluations des informateurs pour obtenir un diagnostic valide est éprouvée. Les résultats plaident en faveur d’une procédure multi-informateurs et multiméthodes dont les implications sont discutées sur le plan clinique et de la recherche.H2M childre

L'attachement et les comportements externalisés chez l'enfant d'âge préscolaire : vers un modèle intégrant la perspective intergénérationnelle de l'attachement, les pratiques éducatives parentales et les capacités intellectuelles de l’enfant

This thesis is part of a research project, named "H2M-children" (Hard-T (w) o-Manage Children, for more information http://www.uclouvain.be/h2m- children.html). This study aimed to evaluate the externalizing behavior (hyperactivity, inattention, impulsivity, opposition) in young children aged from three to six years old and to highlight the risk factors contributing to these behaviors. The present work has focused on the attachment, which can be defined as the particular and specific relationship that is established at birth between parent and child. This relationship can be of varying quality leading to specific effects on the psycho-emotional development of children. As part of the research program "H2M-children", the quality of the relationship, that is to say, the attachment has been studied from different angles in normally developing children and in those displaying externalizing behaviors. From a general point of view, our work demonstrated that the children’s attachment has a reciprocal relation with their intellectual abilities. Children having good intellectual abilities are more likely to display an attachment called "secure", thus promoting further development at different levels as developing higher intellectual capacities and displaying less externalizing behavior. Furthermore, we highlight that the parent’s attachment influences the child's attachment. However, this influence does not appear in the same way in mother and father. Mother’s attachment has a direct influence on the child’s attachment but also through the parenting practices, defined as verbal or nonverbal behaviors of adults interacting with children aiming to raise their child. On the reverse, the father's attachment influences the child’s attachment only through his parenting practices. In both cases, the child’s attachment plays a central role in the further development of externalizing behavior. Our work has several clinical implications. First, the attachment is being established at birth (or even during pregnancy) and plays a key role in the child’s development. Therefore it seems essential to consider in any psychotherapeutic involving a child, as soon as possible. We therefore encourage psychotherapists to expand their knowledge about the attachment. Finally, changing the parent’s attitude toward his/her child could be an aim to psychotherapists. To do this, two levels can be considered. On the one hand, the level of parenting practices can be an intervention since its influence on child’s attachment has been demonstrated in our work. This intervention refers to parenting programs. On the other hand, an intervention can promote the development of interpersonal skills, specific for the parent, rather than learning techniques to manage behaviors of the child, and can bring the parent to become aware of his own attachment. These changes are aimed the parents to better meet the attachment needs of their child.Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le cadre d’un projet de recherche, nommé « H2M- children » (Hard-T(w)o-Manage children, pour plus d’information http://www.uclouvain.be/h2m-children.html). Il s’agit d’une étude ayant pour but d’évaluer les comportements externalisés (hyperactivité, inattention, impulsivité, opposition) chez les jeunes enfants âgés de trois à six ans ainsi que de mettre en évidence les différents facteurs contributifs à ces comportements et leur impact sur ceux-ci. Le présent travail s’est particulièrement intéressé à la relation d’attachement, pouvant se définir comme la relation particulière et spécifique qui s’établit dès la naissance entre un parent et son enfant. Cette relation peut être de qualité variable menant à des effets particuliers sur le développement psycho-affectif de l’enfant. Dans le cadre du programme de recherche « H2M Children », la qualité de la relation, c’est-à-dire l’attachement, a été étudiée sous différents angles chez les enfants tout-venant et chez ceux présentant des comportements externalisés. De manière générale, nos travaux ont montré que l’attachement de l’enfant entretient une relation réciproque avec ses capacités intellectuelles. En possédant de bonnes capacités intellectuelles, l’enfant aura plus de chance de présenter un attachement dit « sécure », favorisant ainsi son développement ultérieur à différents niveaux comme acquérir de meilleures capacités intellectuelles et présenter moins de comportements externalisés. Par ailleurs, nous avons démontré que l’attachement du parent a une influence sur l’attachement de l’enfant. Cependant, cette influence n’apparait pas de la même façon chez la mère et chez le père. L’attachement de la mère a une influence directe sur l’attachement de l’enfant mais également via les pratiques éducatives qu’elle met en place, définies comme les comportements verbaux ou non verbaux des adultes en interaction avec l’enfant dans une visée éducative, alors que l’attachement du père influence l’attachement de l’enfant uniquement par le biais de ses pratiques éducatives. Dans les deux cas, l’attachement de l’enfant joue un rôle central dans le développement ultérieur des comportements externalisés. Nos travaux ont différentes implications cliniques. Tout d’abord, l’attachement se met en place dès la naissance (voire même durant la grossesse) et joue un rôle primordial dans le développement de l’enfant. C’est pourquoi il nous semble essentiel de le prendre en considération dans tout suivi psychothérapeutique impliquant un enfant, et ce dès son plus jeune âge. Nous encourageons dès lors les psychothérapeutes à élargir leurs connaissances sur l’attachement. Enfin, il peut être intéressant de modifier l’attitude du parent dans la relation parent-enfant. Pour ce faire, deux niveaux peuvent être envisagés. D’une part, le niveau des pratiques éducatives peut faire l’objet d’une intervention dans la mesure où son influence sur l’attachement de l’enfant a été démontrée dans nos travaux. Cette intervention réfère aux programmes de guidance éducative parentale. D’autre part, une intervention peut favoriser le développement des capacités relationnelles spécifiques du côté du parent, plutôt que d’apprendre des techniques pour gérer les comportements de l’enfant, et à amener le parent à prendre conscience de son propre attachement. Ces différents changements visent à amener le parent à répondre plus adéquatement aux besoins d’attachement de son enfant.(PSY 3) -- UCL, 201

Is there a common pathway to maladjustment for internationally adopted and non-adopted adolescents?

The main purpose of the research was to test whether cumulative effects represent a common pathway to behavioral maladjustment for internationally adopted adolescents and controls. The findings of previous comparison and follow-up studies have been contradictory. The hypothesis was tested in an original multi-informant study with 74 adolescents: 40 adoptees and 34 controls. The analyses of the data provided arguments in favor of the existence of a common pathway for adoptees and controls. The accumulation of risk factors in the current characteristics of the adolescents and their family was significantly associated with behavioral outcomes of both adoptees and controls. Implications for research, policy and practice are discussed

Concordance of attachment representations in mother-/father-Child dyads and between siblings

This study focuses on the concordance of attachment representations in twoparent, two-child families as an original contribution to the current attachment literature. It uses both categorical attachment patterns and continuous scores. Data was collected on 92 native French-speaking Belgian families. In order to disentangle conceptual and methodological interpretations, each hypothesis was tested in two complementary ways: first in a sample where the parent completed the Cartes pour les Modèles Internes de Relation (CaMir) and their young children (four- to seven-year-olds) the French version of the Attachment Story Completion Task (Fr-ASCT) and second, in a sample where both parents and their teenage to young-adult children (15- to 34-year-olds) completed the CaMir. Our results indicated very little if any concordance of attachment representations, either when using categorical scores or when using continuous scores. The implications of these results for both theoretical and research purposes are discussed

Intergenerational transmission within the family

“Why do parents parent the way they do?” is a very important question. The aim of the current research is to study whether and to what extent the way parents have been parented influences the way they parent. Original data were collected from 48 families across three generations. Grandparents, parents and young adults were asked to report on how they had been parented, how they themselves had parented in the case of the grandparents’ and parents’ generations, or how they were planning to parent in the case of young adults without children. We tested the hypothesis of a “childrearing tradition” across three generations of respondents in a cross-sectional study with a non-clinical sample. Some arguments in favour of continuities have been found, in particular for supportive rather than for controlling parenting. The results hence suggest that reports on parenting behaviour correlate from one generation to the next and even across two non-consecutive generations. The similarities that have been displayed result from the influence of the parenting individuals have received on the way they themselves parent. Our results also suggest that such an influence may be higher for childrearing attitudes such as warmth that have consistently been regarded as desirable, than for those that have been regarded as more controversial in society, such as harsh discipline

From Parents to Siblings and Peers: The Wonderful Story of Social Development

The objective of the current research was to test the hypotheses arising from the epigenetic view of social development and from the wider perspective offered by the social network model with three interactional systems, that is, child–parent, child–sibling, and child–peer. They were tested in two prospective longitudinal studies using a multi-informant and multimethod strategy. Study 1 was conducted among 83 children and their parents and Study 2 among 190 children. Attachment security with parents was assessed when the children were 4 years of age, relationships with siblings at 5 years of age, and relationships with peers at 6 years of age. Attachment to parent was found to explain a limited part of variations in later social relationships with siblings and peers. The sibling interactional system had a consistent and enduring effect on later peer relationships. With regard to the two theoretical backgrounds under consideration, neither was able to account for equivocal findings displayed in the two studies as well as in previous research. The wonderful story of social development seems to be a very complex process for which new models are needed

The transactional process between the relationships with caregivers and children's externalizing behavior

Externalizing behavior (EB) has been found to be pervasive in children across different interactional systems. The transactional model is one of the most interesting and plausible mechanisms explaining the development of behavioral problems (Sameroff, 2009). The main goal of the study is to test bidirectional and recursive transactional relations between the quality of the caregiver–child relationship and children's externalizing behavior. The transactional model was tested in three-wave longitudinal cross-lagged models involving 117 children (78.5% boys) aged 4 at the beginning of the study and three caregivers, i.e. their mother, father and teacher. All of the children had been clinically referred for externalizing behavior. The multi-informant three-wave design was an original feature of this research. The results provided no evidence for a transactional process. The results suggest the singularity of each of these three interactional systems. They are discussed from the theoretical viewpoint and in terms of their clinical implications

Une intervention brève auprès de parents adoptants centrée sur la sensibilité parentale : Effets sur le sentiment de compétence parentale et l'attachement de l'enfant.

L’enfant adopté semble présenter pour lui-même et pour ses parents adoptifs des défis spécifiques en ce qui concerne la récupération de son attachement. Basée sur l’hypothèse du lien entre la sensibilité parentale des parents adoptant et l’attachement de l’enfant, cette étude vise à créer une intervention centrée sur la sensibilité parentale pour des familles adoptives belges francophones. Elle a été testée auprès de neuf familles adoptives dont les enfants avaient entre deux et onze ans. Dans cette démarche exploratoire, la récupération de l’attachement et la modération du sentiment de compétence parentale ont été évaluées. Les tendances qui s’en dégagent mettent en évidence la pertinence de répliquer plus largement cette intervention