Poster #93 - Correlates of Parental Reflective Functioning in Families Experiencing Homelessness

• In Event: 2-110 - Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) refers to a caregiver’s capacity to reflect upon the mental states of one’s self and their child (Luyten et al., 2017). PRF is thought to contribute to a child’s own capacity for reflective functioning and emotion regulation skills via responsible caregiving within the attachment relationship. On one hand, disruptions in PRF could lead to emotion dysregulation, social deficits, and psychopathology within both parent and child. On the other hand, research suggests that PRF might be a resilience factor for high-risk families affected by trauma and stress (Schechter et al., 2005), and thus an effective potential target of intervention (Camoirano, 2017). This project aims to contribute to this burgeoning literature by analyzing parent and child correlates of PRF within families experiencing homelessness, a population that tends to experience high levels of trauma (Narayan et al., 2016).

To study parental reflective functioning within families experiencing homelessness, we administered the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ; Luyten et al., 2017) to parents residing with young children in an urban homeless shelter (N=58; 86% biological mother, 71% African American). The PRFQ is a brief, self-report measure of PRF yielding three subscales: Prementalizing (inability to enter the mental world of their child), Certainty about Mental States (parents’ tendency to be certain about the mental states of their child), and Interest and Curiosity (interest in knowing about the child’s mental states). A confirmatory factor analysis of the original 18-item PRFQ yielded poor model fit (CFI=0.537, TLI=0.946, RMSEA=0.109). A follow-up exploratory factor analysis yielded an alternative 3-factor solution. Four items failed to load on any subscale, and two items loaded onto alternative subscales. The final model (CFI=0.867, TLI=0.828, RMSEA=0.072) yielded 12 items (four in each subscale). Internal consistency for each subscale ranged from low to acceptable (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.56 for Prementalizing, 0.80 for Certainty about Mental States, and 0.57 for Interest and Curiosity), although comparable to other community samples (Rutherford et al., 2018).

In addition to the PRFQ, parents reported on family demographics and childhood experiences, and completed several tasks measuring executive functioning and observed parenting quality. Bivariate correlations were performed to determine associations between self-reported PRF and parent demographics (age, sex, education), adverse and benevolent childhood experiences, executive functioning, and child emotional development (as measured by an emotion knowledge puppet task). Prementalizing was negatively correlated with adverse childhood events (r = -0.32) and hot executive functioning (r = -0.41). Certainty about Mental States was positively correlated with observed positive involvement during parent-child interaction tasks (r = 0.30). Scores of the PRFQ were not correlated with demographic variables or child emotion knowledge.

Results suggest that a brief, self-report measure of PRF might not fully capture the construct as well as anticipated, especially within this high-risk group of parents with older children (ages 4-6). Ongoing research aims to further assess the validity of the PRFQ within this sample, as PRF continues to represent a meaningful construct and potential point of intervention within families at-risk for psychopathology.

Authors

• Rachel A Foster, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Alyssa R Palmer, University of Minnesota
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ann S. Masten, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
  Non-Presenting Author