Parental reflective functioning and executive functioning in mothers with substance use disorder

Having a substance use disorder (SUD) may adversely affect caregiving capacities. Reflective functioning (RF) and executive functioning (EF) are both important capacities for sensitive parenting, and are often impaired in a SUD. Only a few studies have explored the possible association between the two phenomena. In this study, we used a neuropsychological test battery to assess EF, and the Parent Development Interview to assess RF in a sample of mothers with a SUD (N = 43). Although parental RF (PRF) was associated with EF, when controlled for intelligence (IQ) and mental health, there was no significant association between EF and PRF. Mental health, however, showed a significant negative association with PRF. Splitting the group in two based on PRF level, mothers with a negative to low PRF exhibited more severe difficulties in SUD-related aspects, as well as in several EF components, compared to mothers with an adequate to high PRF, highlighting the association between EF and PRF. The results from this study contribute to enhance our understanding of the dynamics underlying vulnerability in PRF that mothers with small children may experience. We suggest EF to be a prerequisite for adequate PRF, and for interventions to be customized accordingly regarding parents with a SUD.     

The role of sociodemographic risk and maternal behavior in the prediction of infant attachment disorganization

Predictors of infant attachment disorganization were examined among 203 primiparous mothers (52% European American, 48% African American) and their infants (104 female). The Strange Situation Procedure was administered at one year. Global maternal insensitivity and overtly negative maternal behavior were observed during distress-eliciting tasks when infants were six months and one year old. Mothers reported on their demographics to yield a measure of sociodemographic risk (i.e., age, education, income-to-needs). Overtly negative maternal behavior was positively associated with the infant attachment disorganization rating scale score, but did not predict being classified as disorganized. Global maternal insensitivity was associated with higher attachment disorganization, both the rating and the classification, when sociodemographic risk was high but not when sociodemographic risk was low. The pattern of results did not vary by maternal race. The results provide some support for the view that negative maternal behavior and the combination of sociodemographic risk and global maternal insensitivity play a role in the development of infant attachment disorganization.     

Reflective functioning,maternal attachment,mind-mindedness,and emotional availability in adolescent and adult mothers at infant 3 months

The study evaluated reflective functioning (RF), maternal attachment, mind-mindedness, and emotional availability among 44 adolescent mother–infant dyads and 41 adult mother–infant dyads. At infant age 3 months, mother–infant interaction was coded with the mind-mindedness coding system and Emotional Availability Scales; mother attachment and RF were evaluated with the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Adolescent mothers (vs. adult mothers) were more insecure and had lower RF; they were also less sensitive, more intrusive and hostile, and less structuring of their infant’s activity; they used fewer attuned mind-related comments and fewer mind-related comments appropriate to infant development. In adult mothers, the Mother Idealizing and Lack of Memory AAI scales were correlated to non-attuned mind-related comments and the Father Anger scale to negative mind-related comments. In adult mothers, RF was associated with sensitivity. This was not the case with adolescent mothers. In both groups of mothers, there were no associations between sensitivity and mind-mindedness.     

Infant attachment,adult attachment,and maternal sensitivity: revisiting the intergenerational transmission gap

This study investigated the intergenerational transmission of attachment, utilizing the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), the Strange Situation Procedure (SSP), and the Maternal Behavioral Q-Set (MBQS). We revisited fundamental questions in attachment theory and research by examining: (1) the level of intergenerational agreement between maternal attachment representations and infant attachment security, and (2) whether maternal sensitivity serves as an intergenerational mediator between adult and infant attachment security. Significant categorical matches between the AAI and the SSP as well as mean differences for MBQS scores between adult attachment secure-insecure groups were found. Consistent with earlier intergenerational research, maternal sensitivity only partially mediated the AAI-SSP link, indicating the transmission gap remains. Consistent with recent mediation studies, using more contemporary analytical techniques, it was confirmed that maternal sensitivity did mediate the direct pathway between AAI security and SSP security. Thus, the transmission gap appears somewhat different depending on the statistical method used to measure mediation. Post hoc analyses considered mothers’ childhood experiences of separation/divorce and this helped make sense of intergenerational mismatches.     

Maternal reflective functioning among mothers with childhood maltreatment histories: links to sensitive parenting and infant attachment security

This study examined relationships among maternal reflective functioning, parenting, infant attachment, and demographic risk in a relatively large (N = 83) socioeconomically diverse sample of women with and without a history of childhood maltreatment and their infants. Most prior research on parental reflective functioning has utilized small homogenous samples. Reflective functioning was assessed with the Parent Development Interview, parenting was coded from videotaped mother–child interactions, and infant attachment was evaluated in Ainsworth’s Strange Situation by independent teams of reliable coders masked to maternal history. Reflective functioning was associated with parenting sensitivity and secure attachment, and inversely associated with demographic risk and parenting negativity; however, it was not associated with maternal maltreatment history or PTSD. Parenting sensitivity mediated the relationship between reflective functioning and infant attachment, controlling for demographic risk. Findings are discussed in the context of prior research on reflective functioning and the importance of targeting reflective functioning in interventions.     

The effects of organophosphate pesticide exposure on Hispanic children's cognitive and behavioral functioning

OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the effects of Organophosphate (OP) pesticides exposure on the cognitive and behavioral functioning of Hispanic children living in an agricultural community. METHODS: Forty-eight children were administered a battery of cognitive measures, and their parents and teachers completed behavior rating scales. Children provided a urine sample for analysis of OP pesticides metabolites. RESULTS: All children had a detectable level of at least one OP pesticide metabolite. Higher OP pesticide metabolite concentration levels were significantly correlated with poorer performance on some subtests of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. However, the significance of this association was dependent upon the inclusion of two samples with noticeable higher OP pesticide metabolite concentration levels. CONCLUSIONS: Short-term OP pesticide exposure seems to have deleterious effects on children's speed of attention, sequencing, mental flexibility, visual search, concept formation, and conceptual flexibility. This study is among a relatively small number of studies investigating an extremely complex problem. Limitations and suggestions for future studies are discussed.     

Structure of reflective functioning and adult attachment scales: overlap and distinctions

This investigation examined the structure of reflective functioning (RF) – an understanding of the links between mental states and behaviors – and adult attachment scales. Both RF and traditional adult attachment scales were coded based on 194 prebirth Adult Attachment Interviews (AAI). Correlational and factor analyses indicated considerable overlap between RF and traditional AAI coding. Exploratory factor analyses of RF and AAI state-of-mind scales indicated that RF loaded, along with coherence of mind, on the primary factor distinguishing between individuals categorized as secure and dismissing. These findings indicate substantial overlap between RF and AAI scales; however, the magnitude of the correlations between these scales indicates that they are not redundant.     

Building the blocks of executive functioning: differentiating early developing processes contributing to executive functioning skills

The neural processes that underlie executive function begin to develop in infancy. However, it is unclear how the behavior manifested by these processes are related or if they can be differentiated early in development. This study seeks to examine early emerging executive functioning skills in monkeys (Macaca fascicularis) by using an error analysis approach where traditional measures of the tasks, as well as identification of major error patterns are related. Results show that during the infancy and early juvenile period, two processes that help support set-maintenance could be differentiated: modulation of responses to novelty and persistence despite negative feedback. The results suggest that these two aspects of set-maintenance were largely independent. Modulation of responses to novelty was most prominent in the infancy and early juvenile period. The ability to persist with a response set despite negative feedback emerged in the early juvenile period and was related to task performance until the end of the study.     

Maternal attachment and mind-mindedness: the role of emotional specificity

We explored the relation between maternal mind-mindedness (i.e., a mother’s tendency to verbally refer to her infant’s mental world through use of infant-directed mental state terms) and maternal attachment. Mothers (N = 76), classified prenatally as Autonomous, Dismissing, Preoccupied, and Unresolved using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI), simulated speaking to their 6-month-old infants in positive and negative emotion contexts. Mothers’ utterances were coded for frequency of use of emotion and cognition-related mind-minded terms. Results indicated a significant negative relation between coherence of mind scores on the AAI and emotion mind-mindedness in the positive emotion context. When differences between insecure attachment categories and mind-mindedness were explored, results indicated that mothers with Preoccupied attachments were significantly more likely to use emotion-related terms than mothers with Dismissing attachments and that these differences were most pronounced in the negative emotion context. A similar pattern was found for mothers with Unresolved attachments compared to those with organized (Autonomous, Dismissing, Preoccupied) attachment classifications, however use of emotion mind-minded terms did not differ by emotional context. Future research directions highlighting the importance of exploring the unique contribution of Preoccupied, Dismissing and Unresolved attachment and emotional context in the exploration of mind-mindedness are discussed.     

Associations between children's intelligence and academic achievement: the role of sleep

Sleep problems (long wake episodes, low sleep efficiency) were examined as moderators of the relation between children's intelligence and academic achievement. The sample was comprised of 280 children (55% boys; 63% European Americans, 37% African Americans; mean age = 10.40 years, SD = 0.65). Sleep was assessed during seven consecutive nights of actigraphy. Children's performance on standardized tests of intelligence (Brief Intellectual Ability index of the Woodcock–Johnson III) and academic achievement (Alabama Reading and Math Test) were obtained. Age, sex, ethnicity, income‐to‐needs ratio, single parent status, standardized body mass index, chronic illness and pubertal development were controlled in analyses. Higher intelligence was strongly associated with higher academic achievement across a wide range of sleep quality. However, the association between intelligence and academic achievement was slightly attenuated among children with more long wake episodes or lower sleep efficiency compared with children with higher‐quality sleep.     

Self‐reported sleep duration and cognitive functioning in the general population

This study investigated the relationship between self‐reported sleep factors (sleep duration, insomnia, use of sleeping medicine, probable sleep apnoea and feelings of fatigue and tiredness) with cognitive functioning in 5177 people aged 30 years or older from a cross‐sectional representative sample of the adult population in Finland (The Finnish Health 2000 Survey). Previous studies have indicated a U‐shaped association between increased health risks and sleep duration; we hypothesized a U‐shaped association between sleep duration and cognitive functioning. Objective cognitive functioning was assessed with tasks derived from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease test battery (verbal fluency, encoding and retaining verbal material). Subjective cognitive functioning and sleep‐related factors were assessed with questionnaires. Health status was assessed during a health interview. Depressive and alcohol use disorders were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Medication was recorded during the health examination. Short and long sleep duration, tiredness and fatigue were found to be associated with both objectively assessed and self‐reported decreased cognitive functioning. The association was stronger between sleep factors and subjective cognitive function than with objective cognitive tests. These data suggest that self‐reported habitual short and long sleep duration reflect both realization of homeostatic sleep need and symptom formation in the context of the individual’s health status.     

The role of coherence of mind and reflective functioning in understanding binge-eating disorder and co-morbid overweight

Coherence of mind and reflective functioning may impact negative affect and interpersonal functioning over and above the effects of symptoms of depression and interpersonal problems that contribute to symptoms of binge-eating disorder (BED) and overweight/obesity. Matched samples of overweight women with BED and overweight and normal weight women without BED completed the Adult Attachment Interview, a measure of depressive symptoms, and a measure of interpersonal problems. Greater symptoms of depression distinguished women with BED from the matched comparison samples. Greater interpersonal problems differentiated women with BED from overweight women without BED. Coherence of Mind scores did not differentiate the samples. However, lower Reflective Functioning scores did distinguish both women with BED and overweight women without BED from normal weight women. Lower reflective functioning may lead to binge eating independent of depressive symptoms and interpersonal problems.     

Cardiac vagal control and children's adaptive functioning: A meta-analysis

Polyvagal theory has influenced research on the role of cardiac vagal control, indexed by respiratory sinus arrhythmia withdrawal (RSA-W) during challenging states, in children's self-regulation. However, it remains unclear how well RSA-W predicts adaptive functioning (AF) outcomes and whether certain caveats of measuring RSA (e.g., respiration) significantly impact these associations. A meta-analysis of 44 studies (n = 4996 children) revealed small effect sizes such that greater levels of RSA-W were related to fewer externalizing, internalizing, and cognitive/academic problems. In contrast, RSA-W was differentially related to children's social problems according to sample type (community vs. clinical/at-risk). The relations between RSA-W and children's AF outcomes were stronger among studies that co-varied baseline RSA and in Caucasian children (no effect was found for respiration). Children from clinical/at-risk samples displayed lower levels of baseline RSA and RSA-W compared to children from community samples. Theoretical/practical implications for the study of cardiac vagal control are discussed.     

Maternal state of mind regarding attachment,maternal depression and children's family drawings in the early school years

The current study explored how children's family drawings in the early school years might be related to their exposure to recurrent episodes of maternal depression. We also examined prospectively relations among maternal state of mind regarding attachment derived from the Adult Attachment Interview and earlier mother–child attachment from the Strange Situation Procedure (both measured when the child was 12–15 months old) and later family drawings. Seventy-five mothers were assessed for symptoms of depression periodically between birth and child age 6–8 years. At this age, children completed a family drawing rated using an attachment-based scoring system. Both mothers' state of mind regarding attachment and their overall depression were modestly, but significantly, correlated with a global rating of the child's drawings. When both predictors were considered together, however, neither was significant, reflecting collinearity between the two variables. In this study, women with a non-autonomous state of mind regarding attachment were significantly more likely to experience recurrent depression. The earlier classification of the child's attachment to the mother from the Strange Situation Procedure was not related to the family drawing.     

Psychological and cognitive functioning in children and adolescents with congenital heart disease: a meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE: Findings in the literature are inconsistent on the impact of congenital heart disease (CHD) on the psychological and cognitive functioning of children and adolescents. The aim of the present study was to systematically review this empirical body of literature. METHODS: We conducted a meta-analysis to review studies on behavior problems and cognitive functioning in CHD. RESULTS: Only older children and adolescents with CHD displayed an increased risk of overall, internalizing, and to a lesser extent externalizing behavior problems. In addition, patients with severe CHD exhibited lower cognitive functioning than patients with less severe CHD, specifically with respect to performance intelligence. Moreover, decreased cognitive functioning remained relatively stable across different age groups. CONCLUSIONS: Children with severe heart disease may benefit from interventions specifically targeting perceptual organizational abilities, such as visual-spatial abilities. Moreover, older children and adolescents with CHD may benefit from psychological interventions reducing anxiety symptoms and depression.