In a father’s mind: paternal reflective functioning, sensitive parenting, and protection against socioeconomic risk

Buttitta, Katherine V.; Smiley, Patricia A.; Kerr, Margaret; Rasmussen, Hannah F.; Querdasi, Francesca R.; Borelli, Jessica L.

doi:10.1080/14616734.2019.1582596

Cited by 41 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…We also wonder whether fathers’ Partner RF captures a construct that has important predictive value, even if not in terms of coparenting relationship quality or relationship satisfaction. Although no other studies have explored Partner RF, the lack of associations in fathers is consistent with prior work that has examined RF in fathers and failed to find associations with theoretically predicted constructs (Stover & Kiselica, 2014; but see Buttitta et al, 2019). We wonder whether the absence of associations here is explained by differences in gender socialization of emotion expression: Men are socialized to be less expressive regarding emotional states (Barbee et al, 1993).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

I “get” you, babe: Reflective functioning in partners transitioning to parenthood

Borelli

Slade

Pettit

et al. 2020

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

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Reflective functioning (RF) is a construct that has gained tremendous traction in the developmental psychology literature, demonstrating robust associations with parent–child attachment and interactional quality. Although theorists argue that RF should have meaningful links with relationship quality across the life span, to date this construct has not been applied to the study of adult romantic partnerships. The goal of the present investigation is to introduce the construct of Partner RF, the capacity to reflect on the thoughts and feelings of one’s partner and to consider their roles in guiding behavior in one’s partner and oneself. Next, we explore the degree to which Partner RF is associated with a range of theoretically related constructs—one’s partner’s Partner RF, as well as one’s own parental RF, attachment, relationship satisfaction, and coparenting—in first-time parents. In a longitudinal study of N = 107 primiparous couples, we found positive associations between mothers’ and fathers’ Partner RF and between mother’s Partner RF and their parental RF. Partner RF is higher among women who report lower prenatal attachment avoidance and demonstrate more prenatal positive communication with their partners. Counterintuitively, higher levels of maternal Partner RF predict greater decreases in couple and coparenting satisfaction across the transition to parenthood. Partner RF may be an important construct to measure and understand in terms of its role in couple relationship functioning and parental well-being.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 78%

I “get” you, babe: Reflective functioning in partners transitioning to parenthood

Borelli

Slade

Pettit

et al. 2020

Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

Self Cite

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“…Socioeconomic disparities have been found to be associated both with parental sensitivity and children’s functioning (Buttitta et al, 2019; Letourneau, Duffett‐Leger, Levac, Watson, & Young‐Morris, 2013). While literature examining this moderator particularly in father–child dyads is somewhat scarce, drawing on the meta‐analytic research on maternal sensitivity, it has been shown that socioeconomic status (SES) moderates the association between parental sensitivity and child language, with associations being stronger among samples of children from low and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds compared to middle and high socioeconomic backgrounds (Madigan et al, 2019).…”

Section: Parental Sensitivity and Child Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paternal Sensitivity and Children’s Cognitive and Socioemotional Outcomes: A Meta‐Analytic Review

et al. 2021

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In a series of meta-analyses, paternal sensitivity was associated with children's (age range: 7 months-9 years) overall cognitive functioning (N = 3,193; k = 23; r = .19), including language skills (k = 9; r = .21), cognitive ability (k = 9; r = .18), and executive function (k = 8; r = .19). Paternal sensitivity was not associated with children's overall socioemotional functioning (N = 2,924; k = 24; r = À.03) or internalizing problems, but it was associated with children's emotion regulation (k = 7; r = .22) and externalizing problems (k = 19; r = À.08). In the broad cognitive functioning, executive function, broad socioemotional functioning, and externalizing problems meta-analyses, child age was a significant moderator.

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“…As noted, PRF may play an important role in mitigating the effects of early adversity [6][7][8]23] and negative parenting behaviors more generally [24,25] on children's socio-emotional development. Studies have shown that among children who grow up in adverse circumstances, those whose parents have higher levels of PRF demonstrate better social functioning and mentalizing abilities, more secure attachment patterns, and fewer externalizing problems than those whose parents have lower PRF.…”

Section: The Role Of Prf In Biological and Adoptive Familiesmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…of child development such as early attachment security [3], child competences and socio-emotional problems [32], and adolescent RF [24], others have found that maternal, but not paternal, RF during pregnancy was associated with Theory of Mind performance at age 5 [33], while another study reported that paternal, but not maternal, PRF correlated with the social competence of adolescent children [24]. More research concerning the respective roles of maternal and paternal PRF is therefore clearly needed [23].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing reflective functioning in prospective adoptive parents

et al. 2021

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The capacity for reflective functioning (RF) or mentalizing of adoptive parents is hypothesized to play an important role in fostering socio-emotional development in adopted children. This paper reports on the development and preliminary validation of the Adoption Expectations Interview (AEI), a semi-structured interview to assess RF in prospective adoptive parents. The AEI was developed based on the Pregnancy Interview, Parent Development Interview, and Working Model of the Child Interview, three interviews that have been used to assess RF in biological parents, to capture RF before child arrival in prospective adoptive parents. In a sample of 96 prospective adoptive parents, the Reflective Functioning Scale, as applied to the AEI (AEI-RFS) showed good reliability, with strong correlations between the different demand items, high internal consistency, and good to excellent inter-rater reliability. A principal component analysis yielded one component, suggesting that the items measured a unidimensional factor. Preliminary evidence for the construct validity of the AEI-RFS was demonstrated by significant associations between the AEI-RFS and well-validated measures of mentalizing, attachment dimensions, and interpersonal functioning.

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In a father’s mind: paternal reflective functioning, sensitive parenting, and protection against socioeconomic risk

Cited by 41 publications

References 69 publications

I “get” you, babe: Reflective functioning in partners transitioning to parenthood

I “get” you, babe: Reflective functioning in partners transitioning to parenthood

Paternal Sensitivity and Children’s Cognitive and Socioemotional Outcomes: A Meta‐Analytic Review

Assessing reflective functioning in prospective adoptive parents

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