Infant Mental Health Journal最新文献

A transition in care (TIC) is a significant change in the primary adults who provide care for a child, involving a move to informal or formal non-parental care, including kinship and foster care. In this paper, we address three issues: (1) the theoretical and empirical reasons for retaining infants and children who experience TIC in longitudinal studies of child health and development; (2) the import of retaining infants and children who experience TIC in studies focusing on parental substance use; and (3) methodological strategies for following children with TIC. We discuss the HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) study as an example of how a large prospective longitudinal cohort study can retain children who experience TIC, describing strategies such as: (1) documenting the frequency and contexts of these transitions and their associations with child health, mental health, and neurodevelopment; (2) attending to consent and mandated reporting requirements; (3) being sensitive to state child welfare policies and practices; (4) addressing retention challenges; (5) focusing on issues related to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (6) establishing methods that document transitions and flexibly follow children as they grow older.

Emotion regulation (ER) during infancy is largely interpersonal, with dyadic studies of mutual regulation revealing how interactions are co-constructed moment by moment. However infant ER in triadic (father-mother-infant) context, the most common context for infant-father engagement during the first year, has rarely been considered. This report presents a new observational system, measuring infant triangular emotion regulation (MITER), for assessing ER strategies in three-person family interactions. Sixty-nine African American infants and their parents, participants in a U.S randomized controlled trial testing effects of a prenatal intervention to promote coparenting were videorecorded in the Lausanne Trilogue Play 12 months after birth. Coders documented infant gaze, affective configurations, parental responses to bids, infant responses to parent ministrations, and ER outcomes (successfully assisted, unsuccessfully assisted, or self-regulated). Interactions were evaluated for coparenting quality, and parents reported on coparenting, depressive symptoms, and infant emotional expression. Families receiving prenatal intervention showed modest evidence of more effective triangular processes, and both successful and unsuccessful ER strategies were associated in hypothesized directions with observational and self-report indices. Multilevel analyses showed that in families with more unsuccessful ER, parental depressive symptoms had a stronger impact on child negative emotionality. Results highlight significance of exploring early ER in family triads.

The postpartum bonding questionnaire (PBQ) is a maternal-reported 25-item measure of bonding, available in 15 languages, and widely used for clinical and research purposes in the United States (U.S.) and across the globe. Nonetheless, its putative 4-factor structure initially proposed in 2001 has never generalized or been replicated in other samples, nor has it been studied in U.S. populations. Using a U.S.-based sample of 610 English-speaking mothers who completed the PBQ 4 months postpartum-mean 32.51 ± 5.25 years old and 47.5% first-time mothers-the initial goal of this study was to confirm the 4-factor/25-item structure of the PBQ. Aligned with other published studies, our confirmatory factor analysis did not support the 4-factor/25-item structure. We then used exploratory factor analysis which supported the creation of a 1-factor/14-item abbreviated measure, the PBQ-R. Unlike previous versions of the PBQ, the PBQ-R is scored so that higher scores indicate stronger bonding. The validity of the PBQ-R was supported by its high internal consistency in this sample (w = 0.89), and correlations with maternal depression (ρ = -0.46) and child neurodevelopment (ρ = 0.11 to ρ = 22) and socio-emotional symptoms (ρ = -0.22 to ρ = -0.33). The new unidimensional shorter PBQ-R is suitable for use in the U.S. as a measure of general mother-infant bonding.

Despite the promise of reflective consultation and the beneficial impacts it may have on enhancing early childhood educator social-emotional well-being and competence, there is limited research on reflective consultation with early childhood educators. The current project, Escúchanos, examined how English-speaking and bilingual Spanish-English early childhood educators (n = 16, 6 White, 9 Latina, 1 Asian/Pacific Islander) in the United States experienced reflective consultation at their child care centers. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the participant's preferred language to provide a better understanding of the perceived benefits and suggested improvements for delivering reflective consultation in early childhood and education settings. Early childhood educators in the study were provided with reflective consultation sessions over 7 months offered by trained mental health consultants in a linguistically responsive manner. Given the cultural and linguistic diversity of the early childhood workforce, this study contributes to the practice of providing culturally and linguistically responsive reflective consultation. Findings from this study suggest that reflective consultation offered early childhood educators with the: space to express feelings; time to take a pause; opportunities to work as a team; and an enhanced awareness of self and others.

There is agreement across infant and early childhood fields that infant and young children's development depends on quality caregiving, which in turn requires a competent and well-supported workforce. This paper includes results of 3 qualitative questions from an international survey (U.S. and Australia, n = 911) of holders of an Infant or Early Childhood Mental Health Endorsement credential that documents their knowledge and skills. The U.S.-based research team used a qualitative content analysis approach to code the responses. Benefits reported included increased knowledge of infant and early childhood mental health, recognition of expertise, and the opportunity to participate in a professional network. Participants also identified barriers to earning Endorsement, including time and money. Themes were analyzed with post hoc Chi Squares by participant demographic characteristics. Asian participants were more likely to report that Endorsement provided personal credibility and recognition and brought validity to the field. American Indian participants were more likely to indicate that Endorsement validates the professional field. Participants from more established associations were more likely to report concerns about the costs of Endorsement. Results are discussed in the context of ongoing system changes that can increase diversity in leadership and the overall infant and early childhood workforce.

This qualitative study examined the experiences of expectant mothers in writing songs to strengthen their emotional bonds during pregnancy. Five pregnant women living in Turkey participated in the study. They were asked to write songs thinking about their babies. Semi-structured interviews were conducted in the final session. Studies show that songwriting helps pregnant mothers get to know themselves and their babies better, reduces stress and anxiety, and strengthens prenatal bonding. The songwriting process is recognized as a valuable tool that allows women to make sense of and share their emotional experiences during pregnancy.

The scale of migrant preschool children in China continues to expand. "Migration" as an important life event in the development of preschool children will have a profound and lasting impact on their development. To explore the influence of family socioeconomic status on the problem behaviors of migrant preschool children and their underlying mechanisms, we conducted a survey on 939 migrant preschool children and their parents. The findings reveal a significant negative correlation between family socioeconomic status and the problem behaviors exhibited by migrant preschool children; family socioeconomic status can influence problem behaviors in migrant preschool children through the independent mediating effects of mindful parenting and resilience, as well as the serial mediating effects of mindful parenting and resilience. This study expands the relevant research in the field of migrant preschool children and provides some theoretical references for the prevention and intervention of problem behaviors in migrant preschool children.

Early childhood home visiting is a complex profession that requires knowledge, skills, and passion for working with families experiencing multiple challenges. Research on workforce satisfaction and retention relies primarily on data collected by current home visitors or supervisors of former employees and lacks depth. The current study was developed to better understand motivators that influence home visitors' satisfaction and aid in workforce retention. Drawing on social exchange theory, a phenomenological approach was used to understand the home visiting experience and the intersection of relevant motivators for current and former home visitors in a midwestern state located in the United States of America. Findings indicated that home visitor satisfaction was heavily influenced by a mixture of positive and negative motivators that were intrinsic or extrinsic. Further, results identified three major themes related to job satisfaction, including a desire to help people, family efforts, and family needs, which intersected with each other and other motivators to impact decisions about staying or leaving the field. These intersections highlighted the importance of understanding unrealized passion, caseload considerations, relationships with coworkers and supervisors, and mindset. Implications for supporting home visitor well-being, job satisfaction, and home visitor retention are discussed.

In Hungary there is no standardized tool to screen early social-emotional difficulties. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Hungarian version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires: Social-Emotional Second Edition for 18-month-olds (ASQ:SE-2/18). Two studies were conducted. Study 1 involved translation, cultural adaptation, and validation in a convenient sample (N = 423). Study 2 used a nationally representative sample (N = 4918) to evaluate the factor structure, internal consistency, predictive validity and socioeconomic and demographic correlates. Study 1 supported the cultural adequacy of the Hungarian ASQ:SE-2/18, and a comparison with the Child Behavior Checklist 1.5-5 provided evidence for its validity. In Study 2, the two-factor model, consisting of Emotional Difficulty (α = .74) and Social Difficulty (α = .69), fit better than the single-factor model and showed acceptable internal consistency. Being at risk for social (odds ratio = 1.7) or emotional (odds ratio = 3.6) development at 18 months predicted socio-emotional difficulties at age 3 assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Socioeconomic disadvantages were correlated with higher levels of social-emotional risk. In conclusion, the study demonstrated the reliability of the Hungarian ASQ:SE-2/18 and offered evidence supporting its validity. Emotional difficulties at 18 months strongly predict later maladjustment, emphasizing the need for early screening and further tool development.

In toddlerhood, parents play a crucial role in supporting the socio-emotional development of children through their parenting behaviors. Certain parental risk factors, such as emotion regulation difficulties and parenting stress, have been found to be related to both parenting practices and child outcomes. As the interplay between these risk factors and their associations with child socio-emotional problems can change across toddlerhood, the aim of this study was to investigate the longitudinal, bidirectional associations of parenting stress and maternal emotion regulation difficulties with child socio-emotional problems. This study included 360 mothers from the Southern regions of the Netherlands (M_age = 31.4, 90.7% Dutch, 81.4% completed university) who completed questionnaires biannually (Jan 2021-May 2024) within the first 3 years postpartum, as part of a longitudinal birth cohort. Cross-lagged path analyses indicated a bidirectional relation between maternal emotion regulation difficulties and socio-emotional problems over time, and a unidirectional relation between early child problems and later parenting stress. The findings illustrate how parents and children can influence each other's emotional well-being in toddlerhood.