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What's going on in my baby's mind? Mothers' executive functions contribute to individual differences in maternal mentalization during mother-infant interactions.

ABSTRACT: Maternal mentalization refers to a mother's capacity to understand mental-states of herself and her child and to regard her child as a psychological agent. In mother-infant interactions, this capacity is commonly conceptualized as maternal mind-mindedness, which can be divided into two dimensions: appropriate and nonattuned interpretations of the infants' mental-states. Appropriate mind-mindedness refers to interpretations that seem to be compatible with the infant's behaviors, whereas nonattuned mind-mindedness refers to noncompatible interpretations. The aim of this study was to investigate the cognitive mechanisms that contribute to mind-mindedness. Specifically, we investigated the role of executive functions in appropriate and nonattuned mind-mindedness, and the moderating roles of two infant-related factors, prematurity (as a stressful context) and child temperament (as a context of unpredictability and negative emotionality). To this end, mother-infant free play interactions were coded for mind-mindedness in a sample of 102 mothers and their 6-month-old infants (61 preterm, 41 full-term). When children were 66-months old, mothers completed cognitive tasks that assessed working memory updating, resistance to interference, response inhibition, and shifting. Appropriate mind-mindedness was positively associated with updating, and this link was stronger when infant temperament was rated as more difficult. Furthermore, among mothers of full-term infants, mothers' resistance to interference was negatively associated with nonattuned mind-mindedness. This link was not evident in the stressful context of premature birth. Mothers' response inhibition and shifting were not associated with either of the mind-mindedness dimensions. Implications on understanding variability in maternal mentalization during mother-infant interactions and the roles of executive functions in parenting are discussed.

SUBMITTER: Yatziv T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6267990 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Background/objectiveParents shape children's early experiences with food, influencing what is served, children's food choices, and how much children eat. Responsive parenting (RP) interventions such as INSIGHT have improved maternal infant feeding practices, but have only been tested among predominantly White families. This secondary analysis of data from the Sleep SAAF (Strong African American Families) RCT tests the effects of an RP intervention designed to prevent rapid infant weight gain on African American mothers' infant feeding practices.MethodsPrimiparous African American mother-infant dyads (n = 194) were randomized to an RP or safety control intervention delivered by community research associates at infant age 3 and 8 weeks. At 16 weeks, mothers completed the Babies Need Feeding questionnaire, the Infant Feeding Styles Questionnaire, and the Babies Need Soothing questionnaire. Logistic regression and general linear models examined the effect of study group on infant feeding practices. Moderation analyses explored whether effects varied by feeding mode (any breast milk versus exclusive formula), maternal age (≥ 20 years versus < 20 years), and maternal pre-pregnancy BMI (with obesity versus not).ResultsRP mothers reported more responsive feeding (p = 0.005, partial η2 = 0.02), lower likelihood of using beverages other than breast milk/formula to soothe their infant (p = 0.01, OR = 0.42, 95% CI [0.2-0.8]), and less pressure with cereal than control mothers (p = 0.09, partial η2 = 0.02). RP mothers also reported less pressure to finish/soothe than controls (p = 0.007, partial η2 = 0.04); feeding mode (B = 0.74, p = 0.003) and maternal age (B = 0.53, p = 0.04) moderated this effect. There were no significant group differences in bottle-feeding practices (e.g., adding cereal to bottle, using an appropriate nipple/bottle size), or in context-based or emotion-based food to soothe.ConclusionsResponsive parenting education influenced some feeding practices of African American mothers. Mothers reported using less pressure, a control-based feeding practice, and more responsive feeding than controls.Trial registrationSleep SAAF: A Strong African American Families Study. www.Clinicaltrialsgov NCT03505203. Registered 3 April 2018.

Project description:ObjectivesMothers with a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are at elevated risk for postpartum mental illness and impairment in the mother-infant relationship. Interventions attending to maternal-infant interactions may improve outcomes for these parents and their children, but barriers to accessing in-person postpartum care limit uptake. We adapted a postpartum psychotherapy group for mothers with mental illness (e.g., mood, anxiety, trauma-related disorders) and ACE for live video-based delivery, and evaluated feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in an open-label pilot study.MethodsWe recruited adults with children (6-18 months) from a perinatal psychiatry program in Toronto, Canada. The intervention was a live video-based 12-week interactive psychotherapy group focused on maternal symptoms and maternal-infant relationships. The primary outcome was feasibility, including feasibility of recruitment and retention, fidelity of the intervention, and acceptability to patients and group providers. Maternal clinical outcomes were compared pre- to post-intervention, as secondary outcomes.ResultsWe recruited 31 participants (mean age 36.5 years (SD 3.9)) into 6 groups; 93.6% (n = 29) completed post-group questionnaires, and n = 20 completed an optional post-group acceptability interview. Mean weekly group attendance was 83% (IQR 80-87); one participant (3.2%) dropped out. All group components were implemented as planned, except for dyadic exercises where facilitator observation of dyads was replaced with unobserved mother-infant exercises followed by in-group reflection. Participant acceptability was high (100% indicated the virtual group was easy to access, beneficial, and reduced barriers to care). Mean maternal depressive [Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale: 14.6 (SD 4.2) vs. 11.8 (SD 4.2), paired t, p = 0.005] and post-traumatic stress [Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist for DSM-5: 35.5 (SD 19.0) vs. 27.1 (SD 16.7)], paired t, p = 0.01] symptoms were significantly lower post vs. pre-group. No differences were observed on mean measures of anxiety, emotion regulation or parenting stress.ConclusionsRecruitment and retention met a priori feasibility criteria. There were significant pre- to post-group reductions in maternal depressive and post-traumatic symptoms, supporting proceeding to larger-scale implementation and evaluation of the intervention, with adaptation of dyadic exercises.

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What's going on in my baby's mind? Mothers' executive functions contribute to individual differences in maternal mentalization during mother-infant interactions.

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