Children's Mental State Research Articles

Caregivers' cognitions about infants' mental and emotional states

AbstractGiven the relevance of caregivers' perceptions, cognitions, and emotions about their child's mental states for caregiving behavior and children's development, researchers from multiple theoretical perspectives have developed constructs to assess caregivers' cognitions, resulting in a large but scattered body of literature. In this article, we highlight the conceptual overlap among and uniqueness of six constructs assessing caregivers' cognitions about their child at 36 months and younger: infant intentionality, mental representations, mind‐mindedness, parental embodied mentalizing, parental empathy, and parental reflective functioning. We define constructs, present approaches to measurement, and propose elements of importance that fall under the umbrella of caregivers' cognitions and that may be associated differentially with children's early cognitive and social–emotional development. We conclude with recommendations for researchers aiming to capture caregivers' cognitions about their child's mental states, whether focusing on one of the six reviewed constructs or on specific elements (e.g., awareness of the child's mind or accuracy of caregivers' perceptions of their child) under the umbrella of caregivers' cognitions.

Resolving trauma: The unique contribution of trauma-specific mentalization to maternal insightfulness.

Resolving trauma may contribute to mental health and parenting in mother with histories of childhood maltreatment. The concept of trauma-specific reflective functioning (T-RF) was developed to assess the complexity of thought processes regarding trauma. The study aimed to validate the T-RF scale applied to the Trauma Meaning-Making Interview by examining its psychometric properties, associations with measures of trauma-processing strategies, maternal reflective functioning and mental health (depression and post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), as well as evaluating whether T-RF offered a unique contribution to maternal insightfulness. Good construct validity of the T-RF scale was confirmed in a sample of 112 mothers with histories of childhood maltreatment using an independent coding system of trauma-processing. Better mentalization of trauma was prospectively associated with higher parental reflective functioning and mothers with high T-RF were much more likely to be insightful regarding the child's mental states than non-reflective mothers and mothers with limited T-RF. The association between T-RF and insightfulness was observed even when controlling for maternal reflective functioning, trauma-processing strategies, maternal education and sociodemographic risk. T-RF was associated neither with depression, PTSD nor the characteristics of trauma. Findings suggest that mentalizing trauma would be an important protective factor in the intergenerational trajectories of trauma.

Hilangnya Peran Orang Tua Terhadap Kondisi Psikologis dan Mental Anak "Studi Kasus: Emerging Adulthood"

The role of parents in a child's psychological and mental development is very important. However, in some cases, this role may be lost or reduced, which will have an impact on the child's psychological and mental state. In this context, the loss of parental roles may occur for various reasons, such as divorce, death, economic or other conditions that result in parents being unable to fulfill their roles fully. In many cases, this leads to children feeling deprived of attention, protection and affection from their parents. This study focuses on "Emerging Adulthood", the transition phase from adolescence to adulthood, where individuals undergo major changes in various aspects of their lives. This study aims to understand the impact of the loss of parental role in this phase to provide in-depth insights based on individual experiences.

The Effect of Cashback Promo, Paylater Features and Ease of Application on Repurchase Interest at Shopee

Children are the future generation of the nation that must be protected, especially when dealing with the law. The difficult navigation route passed by children who are suspects of criminal acts has depicted sadness in children that can disturb the child's mental state, in order to avoid this possibility, another method has emerged in child criminal acts, namely restorative justice (diversion) which is in accordance with the principle of ultimum remedy in criminal law. This study aims to understand the concept of implementing restorative justice which is associated with the principle of ultimum remedy, where this study works using qualitative methods and is sorted in descriptive, so that concrete solutions can be found regarding the matter being studied. The results of this study found a match between the concept of restorative justice and the principle in criminal law, namely ultimum remedy where criminal witnesses are the last step in handling child criminal acts. However, in its application, several obstacles were found, one of which was due to the different meanings of justice between the parties.

Exploring the Impact of Parenting Styles on Child and Adolescent Mental Health in Chinese Families

Objectives: Parenting can potentially influence the psychological well-being of children, making a prominent behavioral impact on children's mental and psychological state. The current study investigated the impact of different parenting styles on the adolescents' mental health and quality of life. Methods: The sample comprised students of Chinese universities who shared their experiences about the parenting they faced in their childhood. The data was collected through a pre-designed questionnaire developed with the aid of previous studies. Simple Hierarchal regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results disclosed that different parenting styles have different outcomes on children psychological well-being. In this myriad, the authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles showed more prominent and significant results than permissive ones. In this domain, the socio-economic status was insignificant. Conclusion: The study shed light on novel aspects by sharing the viewpoint of mature students and implying to the literature that even in such grown up age, parenting styles prevail and can make an impact on children.

I feel well, i play well, i learn well: Direct and indirect divergent thinking mediate the role of well-being in supporting literacy achievements

In this study, we focused on children's well-being and dual manifestations of divergent thinking (DT), both direct and indirect, to investigate how these constructs correlate with children's literacy achievements. For this purpose, 107 children (52 % boys, mean age: 5.5 years, standard deviation (SD = 0.47 years) were recruited. Children's well-being was studied by counting their negative and positive affects expressed during solitary play and indicated by the positivity ratio, an index commonly used in adult studies but not previously employed in child samples. The same play episodes were used to examine indirect DT through object substitution generation (e.g., using a banana as a telephone), whereas direct manifestations of DT were examined using an alternate uses task that provided an indication of DT's triadic dimensions: fluency, flexibility, and originality. Vocabulary, morphology, and letter recognition tests were used to measure children's literacy achievements. Structural equation modeling analysis indicated that well-being is related to literacy achievements through indirect DT manifestation, which drives the flexible thinking dimension when DT is induced directly. We concluded that allocating multiple representations of objects in a play setting provides children with an opportunity to practice flexible thinking, a critical mechanism that connects well-being with literacy skills. This study is significant in revealing the possible mechanisms that explain how well-being affects children's cognitive and academic development. Practically, it provides educational practitioners with insights into monitoring children's mental states and promoting flexible thinking, both implicitly through play activities and explicitly through structure tasks.

Mind-mindedness and educational stance in a sample of primary school teachers

Mind-mindedness has been defined as the caregiver's ability to consider the children's mental states and refer to them in commenting behavior. The present study embedded mind-mindedness in the discourse about the quality of teacherpupil relationship in primary school alongside other instruments that investigated the educational style in terms of authoritarian paradigm, methods, and control. The 169 Italian primary school teachers involved in this study completed, through an online survey platform: a description of one selected pupil (Mind-mindedness representational measure), Adultcentrism Scale for Teachers, The Black Pedagogy Scale (cf. Rutschky, 1977, 2015; Miller, 1980, 1983), and Problems in School Questionnaire. In general, descriptions of pupils provided by teachers showed a prevalence of mental attributes over behavioral ones. A higher percentage of mental contents in teachers' descriptions associated with a teaching style oriented to support pupils' autonomy. The agreement with Black Pedagogy methods associated instead with poorer descriptions. Moreover, a positive correlation was found between the report of higher diffusion of Black Pedagogy's practices nowadays, and the tendency to use more mental attributes (absolute frequency). For future research, it would be interesting to deepen the level of adult mind-mindedness in further educational contexts and in describing children of different ages, also through a qualitative methodology.

Parental reflective functioning in mothers and fathers of preschoolers: Associations with adult attachment and parenting behavior.

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) is considered a key parental competence. Since most research on PRF has focused on infancy or the first years of life, there is a gap in our understanding of PRF among parents of older children. Therefore, we investigated PRF in mothers and fathers with preschool-aged children, examining associations between PRF, parent's romantic attachment, and observed parenting behavior. The sample comprised 50 mothers, 40 fathers, and their 5-year-old children. PRF was assessed using the parental reflective functioning questionnaire (PRFQ), parental romantic attachment was assessed using the experiences in close relationships scale-revised (ECR-R), and parenting behavior was assessed during a parent-child free-play interaction with the coding interactive behavior (CIB) coding system. Results showed that mothers scored higher on the interest and curiosity scale than fathers, indicating that mothers show a more active interest and curiosity in their child's mental states. Further, higher levels of attachment anxiety in fathers were associated with higher levels of pre-mentalizing modes. In mothers, higher levels of attachment avoidance were associated with lower levels of interest and curiosity. Finally, and unexpectedly, higher levels of interest and curiosity in mothers were associated with less sensitivity during free play. In summary, the study found meaningful associations between mothers' and fathers' romantic attachment and their PRF indicating a spill-over of their attachment strategies into their relationship with their child. Further, the study results suggest that very high levels of interest and curiosity in mothers reflect hypermentalizing.

Depressive disorders in children with chronic kidney disease treated conservatively.

Children with chronic kidney disease (CKD) experience a lot of mental and emotional stress, which can lead to the development of depressive disorders. The prevalence of depressive disorders in CKD children is estimated to be between 7% and 35%. The aim of our study was to analyze the prevalence and characteristics of depression and depressive symptoms in children and adolescents with CKD treated conservatively. The cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted in 73 CKD children aged 8-18 and in 92 of their parents. To assess the mental wellbeing of CKD children, Kovacs's Children's Depression Inventory 2 (CDI2) was used as CDI2: Self-Report and CDI2: Parent Form. The majority of CKD children acquired medium scores in CDI2, 11% of participants reported symptoms suggesting depressive disorder, and among them 8.2% met the criteria for depression. A significant relationship was found between age and interpersonal problems, age at CKD diagnosis, and total score and ineffectiveness, CKD duration and total score/emotional problems. Depressive symptoms were associated with the stage of CKD, and they differed significantly between stages III and IV. We noticed the child-parent disagreement on reported depressive symptoms. Parents perceive their children's mental state as worse than the children themselves. There is a problem of depression in children with CKD treated conservatively. Variables associated with depressive symptoms in CKD children treated conservatively require further study. Key factors predisposing to the development of depression seem to be age at the time of diagnosis, disease duration, and progression of CKD from stage III to IV. Disparities between depressive symptoms self-reported by CKD children and their parents' assessment require further analysis. However, these disparaties indicate that the final diagnosis of the occurrence of depressive disorders should be based on a multidimensional assessment of the patient's situation.

Harsh parenting among veterans: parents' military-related PTSD, mentalization, and pre-military trauma.

Veteran parents experiencing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may resort to harsh parenting. The indirect pathway from parental military-related PTSD to harsh parenting, and the moderating role of parents' pre-military trauma histories, has been less explored. Informed by mentalization theory, as well as trauma-sensitive and posttraumatic growth perspectives, we aim to explore the associations between veteran parents' military-related PTSD, mentalization, harsh parenting, and prior trauma before military service. Data were collected from an online research panel of 509 veteran parents with children under 10. We employed Structural Equation Models to test indirect and moderating effects. We identified an indirect effect of parental pre-mentalization from military PTSD to harsh parenting [corporal punishment: b = 0.35, p < 0.001, 95% CI (0.23, 0.46); psychological aggression: b = 0.14, p < 0.001, 95% CI (0.09, 0.19)]. Multi-group analysis on four parent groups (parents with only pre-military physical trauma, parents with only pre-military psychological trauma, parents with both pre-military physical and psychological trauma, and parents with no pre-military physical or psychological trauma) highlighted differences in these associations, particularly between parents with only pre-military physical trauma and those without any physical and psychological trauma. The military-related PTSD effects on psychological aggression, corporal punishment, and pre-mentalization were all significantly higher for parents without pre-military physical and psychological trauma. Modifying parents' interpretation of their child's mental states can potentially counteract the effects of veterans' military PTSD on harsh parenting. Family-based programs should be created considering veteran parents' pre-military trauma histories.

Women with depression in pregnancy or a history of depression have decreased quality of mentalization in the speech to their infants.

Our study aims to understand whether depression, either in pregnancy or lifetime, affects cognitive biases (comprising the attentional focus and affective state) and mentalizing features (ability to understand children's internal mental states, thereby detecting and comprehending their behavior and intention), in maternal speech during mother-infant interaction in the first postnatal year. We recruited 115 pregnant women (44 healthy, 46 with major depressive disorder [MDD] in pregnancy, and 25 with a history of MDD but healthy pregnancy) at 25 weeks' gestation. Three-minute videos were recorded at 8 weeks and 12 months postnatally for each dyad. Maternal speech was transcribed verbatim and coded for cognitive biases and mentalizing comments using the Parental Cognitive Attributions and Mentalization Scale (PCAMs). Women suffering from antenatal depression showed a decreased proportion of mentalizing comments compared with healthy women, at both 8 weeks (0.03 ± 0.01 vs. 0.07 ± 0.01, P = 0.002) and 12 months (0.02 ± 0.01 vs. 0.04 ± 0.01, P = 0.043). Moreover, compared with healthy women, both those with antenatal depression and those with a history of depression showed decreased positive affection in speech (0.13 ± 0.01 vs. 0.07 ± 0.01 and 0.08 ± 0.02, respectively P = 0.003 and P = 0.043), and made significantly fewer comments focused on their infants' experience at 8 weeks (0.67 ± 0.03 vs. 0.53 ± 0.04 and 0.49 ± 0.05, respectively P = 0.015 and P = 0.005). In linear regression models women's socioeconomic difficulties and anxiety in pregnancy contribute to these associations, while postnatal depression did not. Both antenatal depression and a lifetime history of depression are associated with a decreased quality of women's speech to their infants, as shown by less focus on their infant's experience, decreased positive affection, and less able to mentalize. Examining maternal speech to their infants in the early postnatal months may be particularly relevant to identify women who could benefit from strategies addressing these aspects of the interactive behavior and thus improve infant outcome in the context of depression.

The Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale in Telugu (BPFAS-T)

The Behavioural Paediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) was commonly used to assess the children's feeding behaviours. Assessing behaviours is extremely beneficial in understanding the child's mental state and tracking further developmental aspects. This scale was available in the majority of languages; which is not available in Telugu, the language spoken by the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. However, cultural and lingual aspects should be considered when assessing certain aspects of children's behaviour. In this context the current study aimed to adapt the BPFAS scale into Telugu. This study included 380 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The children ranged in age from 1 to 8 years. Parents were instructed to fill out the questionnaire correctly. The obtained scores were examined using reliability, independent t test, and one way ANOVA. The results revealed a Cronbach's alpha of 0.729, indicating that the BPFS-Telugu is acceptable and can be used clinically. The independent t test revealed that there is a high significant difference between total scores, a significant difference between frequency scores, and no significant difference between problem scores. One-way ANOVA was used to compare severity, and the results show that there is a significant difference between total scores, a high significant difference between problem scores, and no significant difference between frequency scores. The independent test for frequency score revealed a highly significant difference between ASD children with and without behavioural problems, as well as problem scores. Overall, 55.5 % (frequency scores) and 55.1% (problem scores) of ASD children were identified with behavioural issues during feeding time. Finally, the authors stated that BPFAS in Telugu is clinically acceptable and can be used to assess for behavioural issues during feeding time.

Self-report measure of parental reflective functioning: A study of reliability and validity across three samples of varying clinical risk.

The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ) provides an efficient way to measure a parent's capacity to recognize their child's mental states and to understand the relationship between underlying mental states and behavior. To date, limited work evaluates its psychometric properties beyond initial validation studies. Here we examined the reliability and validity of the PRFQ in three samples of varying clinical risk (e.g., community sample, previous mental health diagnosis, substance use disorder diagnosis). Across samples, the majority (e.g., 75%-78%) of mothers identified as White; all mothers were from the USA. We compared the PRFQ to task-based measures of mentalization, the Parent Development Interview (PDI), and measures of the parent-child relationship. The PRFQ was a reliable measure across samples, and it was associated in theoretically consistent ways with task-based measures of mentalization. Parental RF across the PDI and PRFQ were not highly correlated in a sample of mothers with substance use disorders. Existing RF measures may be tapping into a different component of the broader construct of parental reflective functioning (PRF). The PRFQ was further validated by demonstrating relationships with parent-report measures of the parent-child relationship. Taken together, these findings provide additional support for the reliability and validity of the PRFQ.

Self-reported reflective functioning and father-child interactions in a sample of fathers who have used intimate partner violence.

Reflective functioning (RF) has been found to be associated with mother-child interactions, but less is known about the association of fathers' self and child-focused RF and father-child relationships. Fathers who have histories of intimate partner violence (IPV) are known to have poor RF, which may impact their father-child interactions. The current study was designed to examine how types of RF are associated with father-child relationships. Pretreatment assessments and recorded, coded father-child play interactions were used to examine associations among fathers' history of adverse childhood experiences (ACES), RF and coded father-child play interactions in a sample of 47 fathers with a history of IPV use in the last 6 months with their coparent. Fathers' ACES and their child's mental states (CM) were associated with father-child dyadic play interactions. Fathers with greater ACES and higher scores on CM had the most dyadic tension and constriction during play interactions. Those with high ACES but low CM had scores similar to those with low ACES and low CM. These results indicate that fathers who have used IPV and have a history of significant adversity may benefit from interventions to increase their child-focused RF and further improve their interactions with their children.

Effects of the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) on parents and children at risk of maltreatment during the COVID-19 pandemic

BackgroundThe global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in situations of risk of child abuse and neglect. ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine whether the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) program can improve protective factors (decrease parental stress and household chaos, increase parent-child emotional availability and parental reflective functioning) that may diminish child maltreatment in a group of families at risk for child abuse and neglect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants and settingThe sample consisted of 41 children aged between 0 and 5 years (Mage = 35.36 months, SD = 14.65; 85.4 % boys) and their parents (Mage = 35.44, SD = 6.04; 75.6 % mothers). MethodsThe study design incorporated two randomized groups (Intervention group: AVI; Control group: treatment as usual) with pre- and post-test evaluations. ResultsIn comparison to the control group, parents and children exposed to the AVI showed increases in emotional availability. Parents in the AVI group also presented increases in certainty regarding their child's mental states and reported lower levels of household chaos compared to those of the control group. ConclusionsThe AVI program is a valuable intervention for increasing protective factors in families at risk of child abuse and neglect in times of crisis.

Qualities of Children's Fear in Therapeutic Action Groups Addressing Post-separation Parental Stalking.

This paper examines the way in which parental stalking - as a form of domestic abuse - raises fear in children and affects their sense of safety. The study draws on three therapeutic action groups involving 13 children who have experienced stalking by their fathers/stepfathers after the parents' separation. The research question is as follows: How does children's sense of fear manifest in therapeutic action groups? The qualitative analysis revealed three qualities of fear among the children: (1) internalised, (2) constant and (3) episodic. Internalised fear appeared as a child's mental state that materialised as an overwhelming sentiment in the group sessions and elsewhere. Constant fear activated at times, and the senses of fear and security alternated both in the sessions and elsewhere. Episodic fear related to the children's memories of violent events and father's stalking behaviour. The children were able to sense security in the group and in daily life owing to a temporal distance to their father's stalking. Our findings underscore the importance of professionals' awareness of the qualities of children's fear and the significance of assessing their fear and sense of safety in a child-centered manner in therapeutic practices.

Paternal mind-mindedness and infant-toddler social-emotional problems

A growing body of evidence suggests that paternal behaviors are influential in child development. However, few studies have focused on paternal mind-mindedness, that is, the tendency of fathers to view their child as having mental agency, which is manifested as a propensity to name the child's mental states while they are interacting with the child. The purpose of this study was to better understand the role of paternal mind-mindedness in the development of social-emotional problems during infancy. 131 families (father-mother-child) were recruited from the community and assessed when children were 6, 12, and 18 months old. Paternal and maternal mind-mindedness was assessed through observation of father-child and mother-child dyads at 6 months. Children’s social-emotional problems were measured with a questionnaire completed by both parents at 12 and 18 months. Results indicate that maternal mind-mindedness at 6 months predicts fewer social-emotional problems at 12 months, while fathers' mind-mindedness at 6 months predicts fewer social-emotional problems at 18 months. This study highlights the unique contribution of paternal mind-mindedness to children’s early social-emotional development.

Research on Mental Health Monitoring Scheme of Migrant Children Based on Convolutional Neural Network Based on Deep Learning.

In recent years, with the acceleration of urbanization and the implementation of compulsory education, the pressure on students' study and life has increased, and the phenomenon of psychological and behavioral problems has become increasingly prominent. Therefore, the school has regarded students' mental health education as the top priority in teaching work. Effective expression classification can assist psychology researchers to study psychology and other disciplines and analyze children's psychological activities and mental states by classifying expressions, thereby reducing the occurrence of psychological behavior problems. Most of the current mainstream methods focus on the exploration of text explicit features and the optimization of representation models, and few works pay attention to deeper language expressions. Metaphors, as language expressions often used in daily life, are closely related to an individual's emotion, cognition, and psychological state. This paper studies children's smiling face recognition based on deep neural network. In order to obtain a better identification effect of mental health problems of children, this paper attempts to use multisource data, including consumption data, access control data, network logs, and grade data, and proposes a multisource data-based mental health problem identification algorithm. The main research focus is feature extraction, trying to use one-dimensional convolutional neural network (1D-CNN) to mine students' online patterns from online behavior sequences, calculate abnormal scores based on students' consumption data in the cafeteria, and describe the dietary differences among students. At the same time, this paper uses the students' psychological state data provided by the psychological center as a label to improve the deficiencies caused by the questionnaire. This paper uses the training set to train five common classification algorithms, evaluates them through the validation set, and selects the best classifier as our algorithm and uses it to identify students with mental health problems in the test set. The experimental results show that precision reaches 0.68, recall reaches 0.56, and F1-measure reaches 0.67.

Mental Health Identification of Children and Young Adults in a Pandemic Using Machine Learning Classifiers.

COVID-19 has altered our lifestyle, communication, employment, and also our emotions. The pandemic and its devastating implications have had a significant impact on higher education, as well as other sectors. Numerous researchers have utilized typical statistical methods to determine the effect of COVID-19 on the psychological wellbeing of young people. Moreover, the primary aspects that have changed in the psychological condition of children and young adults during COVID lockdown is analyzed. These changes are analyzed using machine learning and AI techniques which should be established for the alterations. This research work mainly concentrates on children's and young people's mental health in the first lockdown. There are six processes involved in this work. Initially, it collects the data using questionnaires, and then, the collected data are pre-processed by data cleaning, categorical encoding, and data normalization method. Next, the clustering process is used for grouping the data based on their mood state, and then, the feature selection process is done by chi-square, L1-Norm, and ReliefF. Then, the machine learning classifiers are used for predicting the mood state, and automatic calibration is used for selecting the best model. Finally, it predicts the mood state of the children and young adults. The findings revealed that for a better understanding of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on children's and youths' mental states, a combination of heterogeneous data from practically all feature groups is required.

Use of a book to disclose a diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy to a young child: A pilot study

Disclosing the diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a progressive genetic disease, to children requires taking the time to talk with them and to identify the emotions that they experience on a daily basis. At the Reference Center for Neuromuscular Diseases of Children in Marseille, to accompany the disclosure of the diagnosis to the child, we have created a book to facilitate communication and dialog in the parent–child relationship.A single-center and prospective study was conducted of nine children and nine families to evaluate the usefulness of this tool. The results show that the book was appreciated by families and mainly recommended by children and their parents. Children's understanding of the disease improved, especially for the 6–8-year-old age group. The children's mental state was better at school after using the tool. The book offered them support to express their mood. As an accompaniment, this mediator tool helps parents and children alike. Caregivers use it as a support for the children to have a place to share their thoughts and emotions, from the very beginning of the follow-up. It helps build the child–parent–caregiver triad.