The role of paternal mind-mindedness in the development of socio-emotional problems during toddlerhood

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Given their increasing prevalence among children, their persistence over time, and their consequences for later social and school (Girard et al., 2019; McDonough-Caplan et al., 2018; Navarro & García-Villamisar, 2014), understanding the factors involved in the early development of socio-emotional problems is crucial. While research has begin to recognize the role paternal behaviors play in children’s socio-emotional development (Aktar & Bögels, 2017; Jeynes, 2016), few have examined the role of paternal mind-mindedness (i.e., the tendency to properly interpret and verbally refer to their child's mental states), especially during the first years of life. The objective of this study was to examine the role of paternal mind-mindedness in the development of socio-emotional problems during infancy and toddlerhood, controlling for maternal mind-mindedness in order to determine the unique contributions of this behavior among fathers.
147 families (father-mother-child) were met at their home when children were 6, 12, and 18 months of age. Maternal and paternal mind-mindedness were measured at six months during a period of mother-child and father-child play at home. Mothers and fathers attuned mind-related comments were coded by two independent coders using the coding manual of Meins and Fernyhough (2015), and inter-rater agreement was excellent (ICC > 0.90). Children’s socio-emotional problems were measured using the Brief Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (BITSEA; Briggs-Gowan & Carter, 2002) completed by both parents separately at 12 and 18 months of age. A global score representing the intensity of socio-emotional problems, as perceived by both parents was created. The unique contributions of paternal and maternal mind-mindedness in predicting socio-emotional problems at 12 and 18 months were examined using two regression analyses (see Table 1).
Paternal mind-mindedness was found to be an independent predictor of socio-emotional problems at 18 months (B = -0.22, p < 0.05), while mothers' mind-mindedness was found to be a unique predictor of infants’ socio-emotional problems at 12 months of age (B = -0.24, p < 0.05). Thus, paternal mind-mindedness was associated with fewer problems at 18 months, while maternal mind-mindedness was associated with fewer problems at 12 months. The results suggest that paternal and maternal mind-mindedness make unique contributions to the development of children's socio-emotional problems during infancy and toddlerhood. Paternal mind-mindedness seems to intervene later on than maternal mind-mindedness and further research is needed in order to understand why. Despite results suggesting that paternal contributions only emerge later on, the present study demonstrates that fathers’ parenting behaviors play a unique role in children's socio-emotional development, which is consistent with past research (Cabrera et al., 2010). Understanding the factors that are involved in the early development of socio-emotional problems is a crucial first step towards developing interventions that target these problems among children.

Group Authors

Beauregard-Blouin, J, Baribeau-Lambert, A., Laflamme, E. & Matte-Gagné, C.

Authors

• Jessyka Beauregard-Blouin, Université Laval
  Presenting Author

• Alexane Baribeau-Lambert, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author

• Emma Laflamme, Laval University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Célia Matte-Gagné, Laval University
  Non-Presenting Author