Identifying Profiles of Parental Reflective Functioning in First-Time Parents and Associations with Parental Attachment and Infant Socioemotional Adjustment

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Objective. Parental reflective functioning (PRF) consists of three dimensions using the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ): Pre-Mentalizing Modes, Certainty about Mental States, and Interest and Curiosity. Different types of mentalization, such as genuine mentalization, hypomentalization, and hypermentalization, have been hypothesized yet rarely empirically examined. This study aims to identify PRF profiles using latent profile analysis based on the infant version of the PRFQ completed 4 months postpartum. How profile membership was predicted by parental attachment and predictive of infant socioemotional adjustment was also examined. Design. The community sample consisted of 1,168 first-time mothers and 490 fathers responding to surveys 2, 4, and 11 months postpartum. Results. Three qualitatively different and meaningful PRF profiles for mothers/fathers were found: Moderately Low Certainty (51.1%/46.2%), Moderately High Certainty (46.5%/39.0%), and High Pre-Mentalizing (2.4%/2.8%). An additional profile was identified for fathers only: Moderate Interest (12.1%). Parental attachment predicted profile membership differently for mothers and fathers. Membership in High Moderately Certainty predicted better infant socioemotional adjustment compared to membership in any other profile, although for fathers this profile was not different from the High Pre-Mentalizing profile. Conclusions. Identifying PRF profiles enables the identification of subgroups of parents with specific deficits and strengths in PRF. Future research is needed to examine the replicability of the identified profiles and relevant connections to parent and child outcomes to identify at-risk and protective profiles.