3-127 - Mind-Mindedness in High-Risk Populations

Session Type: Paper Symposium

Integrative Statement

Many studies have demonstrated benefits of mind-mindedness on children’s development, including attachment security (Meins et al., 2002), theory of mind (Meins, Fernyhough, Arnott, Leekam, & de Rosnay, 2013), and expressive vocabulary (Laranjo & Bernier, 2012). Despite its apparent positive benefits, few studies have examined mind-mindedness with non-normative populations and the few that have suggest there may be differences from the typical population. For example, mind-mindedness may be lower in caregivers experiencing adversity, e.g., depressed mothers, borderline mothers, and clinical samples; though, such differences are not consistently found (Meins, Fernyhough, Arnott, Turner, & Leekam, 2010; Pawlby et al., 2010; Petfield, Startup, Droscher, & Cartwright-Hatton, 2015; Walker Wheatcroft, & Camic, 2012). Additionally, mind-mindedness may provide differential benefits in non-normative populations with higher mind-mindedness predicting fewer behavioral difficulties in children of low SES families only (Meins, Centifanti, Fernyhough, & Fishburn, 2013). Clearly, further examination of how mind-mindedness and its potential benefits may show up differently in non-normative populations is needed. That is the focus of this symposium.
The first paper examines the relation of mind-mindedness to attachment security and maltreatment in low-income mothers; the second paper investigates whether mind-mindedness is positively associated with disadvantaged children’s educational attainment; the third paper explores whether mind-mindedness is a quality of close relationships in families under child protection orders whose children either have or have not been taken into care; the fourth paper examines relations among maternal depression, mind-mindedness, and attachment security. Together, these studies contribute to our understanding of how mind-mindedness operates in at-risk families.

Sub Unit

• Parenting & Parent-Child Relationships

Chairs

• Michelle Patrice Brown, University of Minnesota

• Elizabeth Meins, York University

Individual Presentations

• Relation of Mind-Mindedness to Attachment Security and Child Maltreatment in Low-Income Mothers of 12-month-old Infants - Presenting Author: Michelle Patrice Brown, University of Minnesota; Rowena Ng, University of Minnesota; Dane Sannes, University of Minnesota; Melissa Koenig, University of Minnesota; Joe Lisle, John E. Osborn, P.C. Law Practice; Fred Rogosch, Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester; Dante Cicchetti, University of Minnesota

• Mothers’ Early Mind-Mindedness Predicts Disadvantaged Children’s Educational Attainment at Ages 7 and 11 - Presenting Author: Elizabeth Meins, York University; Charles Fernyhough, Durham University; Luna Centifanti, Durham University

• Caregiver Mind-mindedness in Parents of Children at Risk of Abuse or Neglect - Presenting Author: Sarah Fishburn, University of York; Elizabeth Meins, York University

• Maternal 6-Week Depression, 4-Month Appropriate Mind-Mindedness, and 12-Month Attachment Disorganization - Presenting Author: Ann Bigelow, St. Francis Xavier University; Beatrice Beebe, New York State Psychiatric Institute, Columbia University Medical Center; Michelle Power, St. Francis Xavier University; Anna-Lee Stafford, City University of New York; Julie Ewing, Teacher's College Columbia University; Anna Egleson, City University of New York; Tammy Kaminer, Private Practice, NYC