Parental Reflective Functioning as a Moderator of the Link Between Prematurity and Parental Stress.

Daphna G Dollberg,Sivan Malishkevitch,Yael Harlev,Yael Leitner

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.804694

Daphna G Dollberg, Sivan Malishkevitch + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.804694

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Abstract

We examined group differences between parents, both mothers and fathers, of premature and full-term infants to determine whether they differed in their reports of subjective parenting stress and in their level of parental reflective functioning (PRF). We also tested whether each parent's reflective functioning moderated the links between birth status (prematurity vs. full-term) and parenting stress. A sample of 73 cohabiting, heterosexual Israeli families with a premature (28–36th week gestational age, N = 34) or full-term infant (37th week and above gestational age, N = 39) participated, comprising the two parents' groups. Infants' age averaged 7.07 months (SD = 1.28). Each parent completed the Parent Stress Inventory (PSI) individually to determine his/her subjective personal and childrearing stress levels. The Parent Development Interview (PDI-R2-S) was used to obtain each parent's PRF (self and child/relation-focused) level. Findings showed that the premature and full-term parents did not differ in their PSI scores or PRF levels. However, mothers' self-focused PRF moderated the link between prematurity and personal parenting stress, whereas fathers' self-focused PRF moderated the link between prematurity and childrearing parenting stress. Furthermore, fathers' and mothers' PRF operated differently in the premature and full-term parents' groups. The findings highlight the importance of mothers' and fathers' PRF in predicting parents' subjective stress in general and particularly in the case of infant prematurity. We discuss these findings and their relevance for preventive and therapeutic perinatal interventions.

Highlights

We examine how prematurity and parental reflective functioning (PRF) contribute to and interact with each other in predicting parenting stress
Our first objective was to compare the levels of parenting stress and PRF among parents, both fathers and mothers, of premature and full-term infants
Regardless of the infant’s birth status as premature or full-term, fathers and mothers did not differ in their reports of parenting stress or their PRF levels

Summary

Introduction

Current developmental thinking stresses the transactional and intertwined influences between the infant and the parents in shaping the infant’s developmental outcome [1] and the parents’ interactive patterns and parenting experiences [2]. In line with this transactional framework, parenting stress is understood as reflecting the interplay between the infant’s characteristics such as prematurity, and the parents’ resources such as their parental reflective functioning (PRF). Preterm birth is considered a risk factor for the infant, potentially negatively affecting several areas of the infant’s development, with the risk increasing as a function of the severity of prematurity [4]. Premature infants often display a variety of short- and long-term motor, language and communication, cognitive and behavioral developmental delays [5–7]

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