Top

Gepubliceerd in:

19-10-2019 | Original Paper

Mother-child Joint Play: The Role of Maternal Caregiving and Reflective Function

Auteurs: Amiya Waldman-Levi, Ricky Finzi-Dottan, Amber Cope

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies | Uitgave 1/2020

Abstract

Objectives

Grounded in Attachment Theory core conceptualization, maternal caregiving system, and reflective functioning this study aimed at examining whether maternal mental state and dispositions translate to how mothers play with their children.

Methods

This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-method design consisting of qualitative approach and a quantitative cross-sectional design to explore maternal caregiving, reflective functioning, and support provided to child during joint play at the home environment. Seventy mother-child dyads were sampled for the quantitative phase. Measures used: Caregiving System Function scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and an observation scale, Parent/Caregiver Support of Child’s Playfulness to asses 15-min video recording of joint play. Next, twenty observations were selected for the qualitative analysis.

Results

Maternal avoidant caregiving predicted reflective functioning, R² = 0.15, β = −0.038. Anxious caregiving predicted rumination tendency, R² = 0.16, β = 0.41. Reflective functioning predicted maternal support during joint play, R² = 0.27, β = 0.27. Maternal caregiving dispositions predicated reflective functioning, which in turn predicted maternal support of child playfulness during joint play. From the qualitative analysis, of a sub-set of 20 dyads, the Balancing of task-oriented and process-oriented behaviors framework emerged and deepened our understanding of joint play experience during middle childhood period.

Conclusions

Mothers who demonstrated enhanced support of their child’s playfulness demonstrated higher reflective functioning. Researchers, as well as clinicians, can use the proposed framework to explore maternal support and parental dispositions and its effect on child’s and dyadic behaviors.

vorige artikel The Feasibility and Effectiveness of Mindful Yoga for Preschoolers Exposed to High Levels of Trauma

volgende artikel Designing a Mindfulness Resource for Expectant and New Mothers to Promote Maternal Mental Wellness: Parents’ Knowledge, Attitudes and Learning Preferences

Aoki, Y., Zeanah, C. H., Scott-Heller, S., & Bakshi, S. (2002). Parent–infant relationship global assessment scale: a study of its predictive validity. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 56, 493–497. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.01044.x.CrossRefPubMed

Barnett, L. A. (1990). Playfulness: definition, design, and measurement. Play and Culture, 3, 319–336.

Bekar, O., Steele, M., Shahmoon-Shanok, R., & Steele, H. (2018). Mothers’ mental state talk and preschool children’s social-behavioral functioning: a multidimensional account, Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 17, 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2018.1456890.CrossRef

Benbassat, N., & Priel, B. (2012). Parenting and adolescent adjustment: the role of parental reflective functioning. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2.CrossRefPubMed

Bergen, D., & Fromberg, D. P. (2009). Play and social interaction in middle childhood. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(6), 426–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170909000610.CrossRef

Blacher J., & Feinfield K. A. (2013). Caregiving in middle childhood: coping with typical and atypical development. In: R. Talley & R. Montgomery (Eds.), Caregiving across the lifespan (pp. 21–46). New York, NY: Springer.

Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2016). Completing your qualitative dissertation: a road map from beginning to end. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.

Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books.

Borelli, J. L., Hong, K., Rasmussen, H. F., & Smiley, P. A. (2017). Reflective functioning, physiological reactivity, and overcontrol in mothers: links with school-aged children’s reflective functioning. Developmental Psychology, 53, 1680–1693.https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000371.CrossRef

Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2015). Lifespan development. 7th ed Toronto, Canada: Pearson Canada Inc.

Bradley, R. H., Pennar, A., & Iida, M. (2015). Ebb and flow in parent-child interactions: shifts from early through middle childhood. Parenting, 15, 295–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2015.1065120.CrossRefPubMed

Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design. choosing among five approaches. 4th ed Melbourne, Australia: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Finzi-Dottan, R. (2019). Acceptance and caregiving of married and divorced custodial mothers and fathers. Marriage & Family Review, 55, 384–401.CrossRef

Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1998). Mentalization and the changing aims of child psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 8, 87–114.CrossRef

George, C., & Solomon, J. (2008). The caregiving system: a behavioral-system approach to parenting. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 833–856). 2nd ed New York: Guilford Press.

Hess, L. M., & Bundy, A. C. (2003). The association between playfulness and coping in adolescents. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 23, 5–17.CrossRef

Howard, J., Miles, G. E., Rees‐Davies, L., & Bertenshaw, E. J. (2017). Play in middle childhood: everyday play behaviour and associated emotions. Children and Society, 31, 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12208.CrossRef

Kriss, A., Steele, H., & Steele, M. (2012). Measuring attachment and reflective functioning in early adolescence: an introduction to the friends and family interview research in psychotherapy. Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 15, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.7411/RP.2012.009.CrossRef

Lam, C. B., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Parent-child shared time from middle childhood to late adolescence: developmental course and adjustment correlates. Child Development, 83, 2089–2103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01826.x.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Moreira, H., & Canavarro, M. C. (2015). Individual and gender differences in mindful parenting: the role of attachment and caregiving representations. Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 13–19.CrossRef

Moustakas, C. E. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRef

Ordway, M. R., Webb, D., Sadler, L. S., & Slade, A. (2015). Parental reflective functioning: an approach to enhancing parent-child relationships in pediatric primary care. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 29, 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2014.12.002.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Oren, A. (2008). The use of board games in child psychotherapy. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 34, 364–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/00754170802472893.CrossRef

Parham, L. D., & Primeau, L. A. (2008). Play and occupational therapy. In L. D. Parham & L. S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in occupational therapy for children (pp. 2–21). 2nd ed St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc

Reizer, A., & Mikulincer, M. (2007). Assessing individual differences in working models of caregiving: the construction and validation of the mental representation of caregiving scale. Journal of Individual Difference, 28, 227–239.CrossRef

Saunders, I., Sayer, M., & Goodale, A. (1999). The relationship between playfulness and coping in preschool children: a pilot study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53, 221–226.CrossRef

Schultheis, A. M., Mayes, L. C., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2019). Associations between emotion regulation and parental reflective functioning. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1094–1104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-01326-z.CrossRefPubMed

Selcuk, E., Günaydin, G., Sumer, N., Harma, M., Salman, S., Hazan, C., Dogruyol, B., & Ozturk, A. (2010). Self-reported romantic attachment style predicts everyday maternal caregiving behavior at home. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 544–549.CrossRef

Shaver, P. R., Mikulincer, M., & Shemesh-Iron, M. (2010). A behavioral systems perspective on prosocial behavior. In M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: the better angles of our nature (pp. 72–91). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Skard, G., & Bundy, A. C. (2008). Test of playfulness. In L.D. Parham & L.S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in occupational therapy for children (pp. 71–93). 2nd ed St. Louis: Mosby, Inc.

Slade, A., Grienenberger, J., Bernbach, E., Levy, D., & Locker, A. (2005). Maternal reflective functioning, attachment, and the transmission gap: a preliminary study. Attachment & Human Development, 7, 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730500245880.CrossRef

Slade, A. (2007). Reflective parenting programs: theory and development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 26, 640–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690701310698.CrossRef

Spinelli, E. (1989). The interpreted world. London, United Kingdom: Sage.

Taubman-Ben-Ari, O., & Noy, A. (2010). Self-consciousness and death cognitions from a terror management perspective. Death Studies, 34, 871–892.CrossRef

Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284–304.CrossRef

Waldman-Levi, A., & Bundy, A. (2016). A Glimpse into co-occupations: parent’s support of young children’s playfulness scale. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 32, 217–227.CrossRef

Waldman-Levi, A., Grinion, S., & Olson, L. (2019). Effects of maternal views and support on childhood development through joint play. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1613.CrossRef

Waldman-Levi, A., Sheills, M., Bundy, A., & Olson, L. (2017). Co-occupations: feasibility of a comprehensive in-depth assessment procedure. The American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference Philadelphia, PA, USA.

Waldman-Levi, A., & Weintraub, N. (2015). Efficacy of a crisis intervention for improving mother–child interaction and the children’s play functions. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2015.013375.CrossRef

Winnicott, D. W. (1999). The child, the family and the outside world. Tel-Aviv, Israel: Sifriat Poalim Publishing House Ltd.

Zvara, B. J., Sheppard, K. W., & Cox, M. (2018). Bidirectional effects between parenting sensitivity and child behavior: a cross-lagged analysis across middle childhood and adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 484–495.CrossRef

Titel: Mother-child Joint Play: The Role of Maternal Caregiving and Reflective Function
Auteurs: Amiya Waldman-Levi
Ricky Finzi-Dottan
Amber Cope
Publicatiedatum: 19-10-2019
Uitgeverij: Springer US
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Child and Family Studies / Uitgave 1/2020
Print ISSN: 1062-1024
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-2843
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01638-8

Andere artikelen Uitgave 1/2020

Coming Out in Family and Sports-related Contexts among Young Italian Gay and Lesbian Athletes: The Mediation Effect of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” Attitude

Original Paper

Advancing Home Based Parenting Programs through the Use of Telehealth Technology

Original Paper

Feasibility of a Mindfulness-Based Intervention with Sheltered Youth Experiencing Homelessness

Open Access
Original Paper

Engagement in Home Visiting: An Overview of the Problem and How a Coalition of Researchers Worked to Address this Cross-model Concern

Original Paper

Correction to: Advancing Home Based Parenting Programs through the Use of Telehealth Technology

Author Correction

Engagement in Home Visiting Services during the Transition from Pregnancy to Postpartum: A Prospective Mixed Methods Pilot Study

Original Paper