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Is Prenatal Coparental Intersubjective Communication a Harbinger of Triangular Intersubjectivity in Adolescence? An Exploratory Microanalytic Study

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Prenatal Family Dynamics

Abstract

Two contrasting cases will be presented, one with normative interactions, and one with serious challenges in the coparenting relationship. The cases are part of a longitudinal study of a community sample (N = 50) using the Lausanne Trilogue play (LTP) paradigm. Families were followed from the prenatal period, at 7 months gestation, through infancy, age 5, and now a 15-year follow-up. In keeping with previously developed macroanalytic readings, we propose a microanalytic reading of interactive patterns in the prenatal and adolescent LTPs. Microanalyses of the 3-together Mutual Smiles Episodes as well as of gaze and affect interactions between partners serve to measure triangular focal attention and affect sharing as preconditions for collective intersubjective communication. The aim is both to explore the continuity of intersubjective communication from prenatal coparenting to triangular family intersubjective communication in adolescence, and to document key differences between normative and problematic interactive patterns. Results illustrate the advantages of using macro- and microanalyses of interactions in parallel. They also confirm the continuity of family normative and problematic patterns between pregnancy and adolescence.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Graziella Bezzan and Nilo Puglisi for their participation in coding the 18-month LTPs, Francesca Suardi for her help in coding Lucas’ and Arnold’s imaginary babies’ responses to their coparents, and Roland Fivaz for his help in designing the data graphs.

This study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (Grant 32-52508.97).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards and the « Commission cantonale (VD) d’éthique de la recherche sur l’être humain » gave its agreement.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. The families have agreed to the use of their data with the understanding that we change identifying information to protect their anonymity. Every effort has been made to retain elements necessary to relay key teaching points.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology and Medicine, Center for Family Studies, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge

  2. SickKids Center for Community Mental Health, University of Toronto Medical School, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Diane A. Philipp

  3. Research Unit of the Centre for Family Study, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

    France Frascarolo

  4. Center for Family Studies, CHUV, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Antoinette Corboz-Warnery

Authors
  1. Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge
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  2. Diane A. Philipp
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  3. France Frascarolo
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  4. Antoinette Corboz-Warnery
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elisabeth Fivaz-Depeursinge .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Clinical Counseling Psychology, Department Assumption University, Worcester, MA, USA

    Regina Kuersten-Hogan

  2. Family Study Center, Department of Psychology, University of South Florida St. Petersburg campus, St. Petersburg, FL, USA

    James P. McHale

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Fivaz-Depeursinge, E., Philipp, D.A., Frascarolo, F., Corboz-Warnery, A. (2021). Is Prenatal Coparental Intersubjective Communication a Harbinger of Triangular Intersubjectivity in Adolescence? An Exploratory Microanalytic Study. In: Kuersten-Hogan, R., McHale, J.P. (eds) Prenatal Family Dynamics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51988-9_3

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