The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach

Simonelli, Alessandra; Parolin, Micol; Sacchi, Chiara; Palo, Francesca De; Vieno, Alessio

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01725

Cited by 29 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 73 publications

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“…As observed in a previous study, 91 which emphasized the importance of child factors, child’s interactive abilities may contribute to an improvement of family interaction quality. In this study, we set out to observe the influence of the child’s temperament on the perception of parenting stress and family empowerment and consequently on the quality of family interactions.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Triadic interactions in families with preterm children: a comparative study with children born at term

Gatta¹,

Miscioscia²,

Svanellini³

et al. 2017

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The relationship between parents and infants born preterm is multifaceted and could present some relational patterns which are believed to predict psychological risk more than others. For example, insensitive parenting behavior has been shown to place very preterm children at greater risk of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. The main objective of this study was to compare the quality of family interactions in a sample of families with preterm children with one of the families with at-term children, exploring possible differences and similarities. The second aim of this research was to consider the associations among family interactions and parental empowerment, the child’s temperament, parenting stress, and perceived social support. The sample consisted of 52 children and their families: 25 families, one with two preterm brothers with preterm children (mean 22.3 months, SD 12.17), and 26 families with children born at term (mean 22.2 months, SD 14.97). The Lausanne Trilogue Play procedure was administered to the two groups to assess the quality of their family interactions. The preterm group was also administered the Questionari Italiani del Temperamento, the Family Empowerment Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and the Parenting Stress Index – Short Form. Differences in the quality of family interactions emerged between the preterm and at-term groups. The preterm group showed significantly lower quality of family interactions than the at-term group. The parenting stress of both parents related to their parental empowerment, and maternal stress was also related to the partner’s parental empowerment. Social support had a positive influence on parenting stress, with maternal stress also related to perceived social support from the partner, which underscores the protective role of the father on the dyad.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Triadic interactions in families with preterm children: a comparative study with children born at term

Gatta¹,

Miscioscia²,

Svanellini³

et al. 2017

NDT

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“…In the last three decades, greater recognition has been given to the role of the father in child development ( NIDCH Early Child Care Research Network, 2000 ; Tamis-LeMonda et al, 2004 ; Lamb, 2010 ). Moreover, father involvement predicts the quality of family interactions from the earliest stages of a child’s life ( Simonelli et al, 2016 ). Wider involvement of fathers in the rearing and caring for their infants leads to increased opportunities for early interactions ( Pleck, 2010 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental and Infant Gender Factors in Parent–Infant Interaction: State-Space Dynamic Analysis

et al. 2017

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This study aimed to investigate the influence of parental gender on their interaction with their infants, considering, as well, the role of the infant’s gender. The State Space Grid (SSG) method, a graphical tool based on the non-linear dynamic system (NDS) approach was used to analyze the interaction, in Free-Play setting, of 52 infants, aged 6 to 10 months, divided into two groups: half of the infants interacted with their fathers and half with their mothers. There were 50% boys in each group. MANOVA results showed no differential parenting of boys and girls. Additionally, mothers and fathers showed no differences in the Diversity of behavioral dyadic states nor in Predictability. However, differences associated with parent’s gender were found in that the paternal dyads were more “active” than the maternal dyads: they were faster in the rates per second of behavioral events and transitions or change of state. In contrast, maternal dyads were more repetitive because, once they visited a certain dyadic state, they tend to be involved in more events. Results showed a significant discriminant function on the parental groups, fathers and mothers. Specifically, the content analyses carried out for the three NDS variables, that previously showed differences between groups, showed particular dyadic behavioral states associated with the rate of Transitions and the Events per Visit ratio. Thus, the transitions involving ‘in–out’ of ‘Child Social Approach neutral – Sensitive Approach neutral’ state and the repetitions of events in the dyadic state ‘Child Play-Sensitive Approach neutral’ distinguished fathers from mothers. The classification of dyads (with fathers and mothers) based on this discriminant function identified 73.10% (19/26) of the father–infant dyads and 88.5% (23/26) of the mother–infant dyads. The study of father-infant interaction using the SSG approach offers interesting possibilities because it characterizes and quantifies the actual moment-to-moment flow of parent–infant interactive dynamics. Our findings showed how observational methods applied to natural contexts offer new facets in father vs. mother interactive behavior with their infants that can inform further developments in this field.

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“…Families were assessed during two observational procedures aimed at investigating the quality of mother–father–child triadic interactions. The results were then compared with a control group (CTRL Group), composed by non-referred parents and normally developing children, extracted from a larger research project (Simonelli et al, 2014, 2016). The research described here was approved by the Academic Institutional Board, and in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From this perspective, the investigation of observable behaviors constitutes a preferential way to achieve a better understanding of the family system and of the early adult–child relationships (Fivaz-Depeursinge et al, 2010; Simonelli et al, 2010, 2012, 2014). Moreover, this kind of investigation could help to deepen the knowledge of family functioning further beyond early infancy, as suggested by a recent longitudinal study on the Italian population, carried out from pregnancy to the preschool age period, which highlighted the presence of developmental trends in the quality of family interactions (Simonelli et al, 2016). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infantile Anorexia and Co-parenting: A Pilot Study on Mother–Father–Child Triadic Interactions during Feeding and Play

et al. 2017

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Infantile Anorexia (IA), defined by the Diagnostic Classification of Mental Health and Developmental Disorders of Infancy and Early Childhood Revised (DC: 0-3R, Zero To Three, 2005), occurs when the child (a) refuses to eat adequate amounts of food for at least 1 month, and shows growth deficiency, (b) does not communicate hunger and lacks interest in food, and (c) the child’s food refusal does not follow a traumatic event and is not due to an underlying medical illness. IA usually emerges during the transition to self-feeding, when the child issues of autonomy are played out daily in the feeding situation. Studies evidence that the feeding interactions between children with IA and their mothers are characterized by low reciprocity, greater interactional conflict and negative affects (Chatoor et al., 2000; Ammaniti et al., 2010, 2012). Moreover, these studies pointed out that maternal depression and eating disorders are frequently associated with IA (Cooper et al., 2004; Ammaniti et al., 2010; Lucarelli et al., 2013). To date, research has focused almost exclusively on the mother–child dyad, while fathers’ involvement, co-parental and family interactions are poorly studied. The current study is a pilot research that investigated mother–father–child triadic interactions, during feeding and play, in families with children diagnosed with IA, in comparison to families with normally developing children. Until now, at the study participated N = 10 families (five with a child with IA diagnosis and five with lack of child’s IA diagnosis, matched for child’s age and gender). The parents–child triadic interactions were assessed in feeding and play contexts using the Lausanne Trilogue Play (Fivaz-Depeursinge and Corboz-Warnery, 1999), adapted to observe father-mother-infant primary triangle in the feeding context, compared to the play context (Lucarelli et al., 2012). Families of the IA-group showed difficulties in expressing and sharing pleasure and positive affects, and in structuring a predictable and flexible context. Children showed little autonomy and difficulty in being actively engaged and tune with parents. Dysfunctional family interactions are a critical issue for IA that affects co-parental and family subsystems, stressing the importance of an articulated diagnostic assessment in order to target effective treatment approaches.

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The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach

Cited by 29 publications

References 73 publications

Triadic interactions in families with preterm children: a comparative study with children born at term

Triadic interactions in families with preterm children: a comparative study with children born at term

Parental and Infant Gender Factors in Parent–Infant Interaction: State-Space Dynamic Analysis

Infantile Anorexia and Co-parenting: A Pilot Study on Mother–Father–Child Triadic Interactions during Feeding and Play

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