Parents' reflective functioning and stress: The associations with preschoolers' social understanding.

IF 2.1 3区心理学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL Infant Mental Health Journal Pub Date : 2025-01-22 DOI:10.1002/imhj.22164

Emiddia Longobardi, Mara Morelli, Matilde Brunetti, Stefania Sette, Pietro Spataro, Fiorenzo Laghi

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Abstract

Social understanding competence develops in sensitive and co-regulating caregiver interactions. Parental reflective functioning (PRF) and parenting stress can affect children's social understanding. This study investigated if children's social understanding was associated with PRF and parenting stress. Parents of 305 Italian children aged from 24 to 72 months (M= 48.2, SD = 13.9; 47.9% girls) completed an online survey. Parents completed the following questionnaire: The Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, and the Children's Social Understanding Scale. Results showed that children's social understanding was predicted by lower parenting stress, b = .002, p = .017, and parent's interest and curiosity about the child's mental states, b = .07, p = .013. Findings confirm that high levels of parenting stress and low PRF constitute unfavorable conditions for preschoolers' socio-cognitive development. Thus, the present study can have implication for interventions aimed at improving children's social understanding that should focus on reducing parenting stress and enhancing parental mentalizing.

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父母反思功能与压力：与学龄前儿童社会理解的关系。

社会理解能力在敏感和共同调节照顾者互动中发展。父母反思功能（PRF）和父母压力会影响儿童的社会理解。本研究探讨儿童的社会理解是否与PRF和父母压力有关。305名24 ~ 72月龄意大利儿童的家长(M = 48.2, SD = 13.9；47.9%的女孩)完成了在线调查。家长完成以下问卷：父母压力指数简表、父母反思功能问卷和儿童社会理解量表。结果显示，较低的父母压力（b = 0.002, p = 0.017）和父母对儿童心理状态的兴趣和好奇心（b = 0.07, p = 0.013）可以预测儿童的社会理解能力。研究结果证实，高水平的父母压力和低PRF构成了学龄前儿童社会认知发展的不利条件。因此，本研究可以为旨在提高儿童社会理解的干预措施提供启示，这些干预措施应侧重于减少父母的压力和增强父母的心理化。

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来源期刊

Infant Mental Health Journal PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL-

CiteScore

4.10

自引率

8.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Infant Mental Health Journal (IMHJ) is the official publication of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) and the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH) and is copyrighted by MI-AIMH. The Infant Mental Health Journal publishes peer-reviewed research articles, literature reviews, program descriptions/evaluations, theoretical/conceptual papers and brief reports (clinical case studies and novel pilot studies) that focus on early social and emotional development and characteristics that influence social-emotional development from relationship-based perspectives. Examples of such influences include attachment relationships, early relationship development, caregiver-infant interactions, infant and early childhood mental health services, contextual and cultural influences on infant/toddler/child and family development, including parental/caregiver psychosocial characteristics and attachment history, prenatal experiences, and biological characteristics in interaction with relational environments that promote optimal social-emotional development or place it at higher risk. Research published in IMHJ focuses on the prenatal-age 5 period and employs relationship-based perspectives in key research questions and interpretation and implications of findings.