Parental Representations Research Articles

Impact of a Cleft Lip and/or Palate on Maternal Stress and Attachment Representations

The announcement, prenatally or at birth, of a cleft lip and/or palate represents a challenge for the parents. The purpose of this study is to identify parental working internal models of the child (parental representations of the child and relationship in the context of attachment theory) and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in mothers of infants born with a cleft. The study compares mothers with a child born with a cleft (n = 22) and mothers with a healthy infant (n = 36). The study shows that mothers of infants with a cleft more often experience insecure parental working internal models of the child and more posttraumatic stress symptoms than mothers of the control group. It is interesting that the severity or complexity of the cleft is not related to parental representations and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. The maternal emotional involvement, as expressed in maternal attachment representations, is higher in mothers of children with a cleft who had especially high posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, as compared with mothers of children with a cleft having fewer posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms. Mothers of children with a cleft may benefit from supportive therapy regarding parent-child attachment, even when they express low posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms.

Testing Reality during Adolescence: the Contribution of Erikson’s Concepts of Fidelity and Developmental Actuality

The process of reality testing can be thought of as a lifespan developmental line, where adolescence provides a critical developmental advance but not an endpoint. Erikson’s concepts of fidelity and developmental actuality provide a frame of reference for considering this. Three means of reality testing are identified—contemplation, action, and conversation—where these modes of approach can be used separately or in concert to clarify the reality status of situations and phenomena. These methods of testing reality are illustrated within four arenas of adolescent functioning—thought, time, parental representations, and the experience of the embodied self.

Gender, community and education: cultures of resistance in Socialist Sunday Schools and Black Supplementary Schools

This paper compares the ways in which gender was articulated and experienced through the construction of children’s education in two very different community-led educational initiatives in Britain: turn-of-the-century Socialist Sunday Schools and late-twentieth-century Black Supplementary Schools. Exploration of these historical examples of practice assist to challenge dominant representations of inactive working-class and Black parents, and provide content and form to the complex cultural processes involved in the development of counter-education. Whilst responding to markedly distinct social circumstances, a comparison of the experiences of teachers and students in both of these historical cases reveal powerful uses of gender, class and ‘race’ narratives in which to build and defend their respective school movements. Drawing on oral-history interviews and textual accounts of practice I examine the ways in which normative constructions of femininity and masculinity were both challenged and confirmed in the development of these alternative educational practices. In particular, both of these school movements blur and redefine the public/private distinction through the interpellation of their educational practice into the political field and the relationships they established between children’s education and the challenge to social, educational and economic inequality.

L’impasse de la pluriparentalité au niveau légal : analyse du projet de « parenté sociale » en Belgique

Depuis quelques années existe en Belgique le projet législatif de créer un statut de « parenté sociale » afin de reconnaître la place et les droits d’un parent « de fait ». Au-delà des intentions annoncées, je montrerai dans cet article comment l’enjeu de la pluriparentalité constitue une des difficultés majeures qui empêchent l’aboutissement de ce dossier. L’analyse portera donc sur les façons dont sont appréhendées la parentalité et sa reconnaissance légale au sein des différentes propositions de loi, et ce, dans le but d’en comprendre les limites et les ambivalences, ainsi que les normes et les représentations parentales sous-jacentes.

The mothers and toddlers program, an attachment‐based parenting intervention for substance‐using women: Results at 6‐week follow‐up in a randomized clinical pilot

Previously, we reported posttreatment findings from a randomized pilot study testing a new attachment-based parenting intervention for mothers enrolled in substance-use treatment and caring for children ages birth to 3 years (N.E. Suchman, C. DeCoste, N. Castiglioni, T. McMahon, B. Rounsaville, & L. Mayes, 2010). The Mothers and Toddlers Program (MTP) is a 12-session, weekly individual parenting therapy that aims to enhance maternal capacity for reflective functioning and soften harsh and distorted mental representations of parenting. In a randomized pilot study, 47 mothers who were enrolled in outpatient substance-abuse treatment and caring for children between birth and 3 years of age were randomized to the MTP versus the Parent Education Program (PE), a comparison intervention that provided individual case management and developmental guidance. At the end of treatment, mothers in the MTP condition demonstrated better reflective functioning, representation quality, and caregiving behavior than did mothers in the PE condition. In this investigation, we examined whether the benefits of MTP at posttreatment were sustained at the 6-week follow-up. Recently, we also identified two components of parental reflective functioning: (a) a self-focused component representing the parent's capacity to mentalize about strong personal emotions (e.g., anger, guilt, or pain) and their impact on the child and (b) a child-focused component representing the parent's capacity to mentalize about the child's emotions and their impact on the mother (N. Suchman, C. DeCoste, D. Leigh, & J. Borelli, 2010). In this study, we reexamined posttreatment outcomes using these two related, but distinct, constructs.

Invisible or Involved Fathers? A Content Analysis of Representations of Parenting in Young Children’s Picturebooks in the UK

Although gender-role stereotyping in children’s books is a consistent focus of research, the study of the gender role stereotyping of parenting in particular is less common, despite a developing academic interest in the changing social meanings of fathering and mothering in contemporary societies. Previous analysis has suggested that fathers are under-represented in children’s books and when present, are less likely than mothers to be featured expressing affection towards, or caring for, children. This paper reports the results of a content analysis of a sample of best-selling young children’s picturebooks in the UK which feature representations of parents. It was predicted that fathers would feature less often, particularly at home, and be less likely to be depicted sharing physical contact with other family members, involved in domestic chores or childcare activity, or expressing emotion. The results upheld a number of the hypotheses, indicating that fathers remain ‘invisible’ in an important sense. However scenes featuring fathers with children, some forms of physical contact, or caring for children were not significantly less likely to feature in these picturebooks than equivalent scenes featuring mothers; perhaps reflecting a more progressive portrayal of ‘involved’ fatherhood. The findings are discussed in terms of their methodological, social, and political implications.

Dual Audiences, Double Pedagogies: Representing Family Literacy as Parental Work in Picture Books

Narrative for a dual audience of children and adults is a field of expanding interest among children’s literature scholars. A great deal of the extant research is implicitly or explicitly informed by longstanding anxieties about the status of children’s fiction, a context that shifts the parameters of the analysis to questions of literary sophistication. Whilst some attention is paid to the reader-subject position of the child reader, rather less is given to the positioning of the adult reader in relation to the pedagogical agendas of such texts. This article examines picture books featuring parents reading to preschool children. In the context of family literacy, it is an instance in which the pedagogical address to the adult reader is as significant as the address to the child. Drawing on distinctions between double and dual address, the article examines the ways in which representations of parents reading to children position adult and child reading-subjects to understand reading as work and leisure, respectively. We conclude with some observations about how the dual address might in fact subvert the literacy agendas in these texts.

À propos de l’adoption internationale : la double étrangeté de l’enfant venu d’ailleurs

The foster child through an intercountry adoption is a "foreigner" in two ways: as a support for parental unconscious projections (as any child, including biological children) on the one hand, and because of the strangeness ethnic often involved in this framework in the other hand. After recalling the main parental representations concerning the unborn child, the author then proposes to think the approval procedure as a kind of imaginary and symbolic equivalent of the usual psychic pregnancy.

“Let's Go to the Movies”: Filmic Representations of Gay Foster and Adoptive Parents

As a growing body of research evidence demonstrates, increasing numbers of gay men across the world are choosing to become foster or adoptive parents. Most important, the families that these men form are continually found to be supportive and positive environments in which to raise children. Yet despite these positive findings, other empirical evidence from examinations of popular media representations of gay parents highlights the negative assumptions that continue to be perpetuated against gay men who are parents. More specifically, these findings suggest that print and popular media promote an account of gay parents that is often either normalising or pathologising. The findings presented in this article extend this latter body of research by exploring filmic portrayals of gay men variously engaged in fostering and adoptive arrangements. Through an analysis of five recently released films, four dominant themes are elaborated: (1) the capacity of gay men to parent and under what circumstances; (2) the relationship between gay men's sexual identities and their identity as parents; (3) the agency of children who are cared for by gay men; and (4) constructions of kinship in the films. Implications are explored for what these themes tells us about the representations of gay men deemed acceptable or intelligible at present, and the identities the films offer to gay parent viewers.

Parents' Representation Study

Summary findings of ESRC Study on the representation of parents in care (dependency) proceedings in England and Wales 2008-9. A detailed qualitative study including 16 cases studies of proceedings where a parent's lawyer was observed in pre-court advice and negotiation, the court hearings and post hearing discussion with client. The full report is available on SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=844663.

Association Between Adult Attachment Representations and Undergraduate Student Course Evaluations

Students' course evaluations often play an important role in career advancement for faculty. The authors examined the association between attachment representations of parents and course evaluations in a sample of 230 undergraduate students. They found a significant negative association between attachment anxiety with parents and course evaluation, thereby suggesting that insecure–anxious students were more likely to give negative course evaluations. The authors provide suggestions for professors to improve their scores on student course evaluations.

263 Benefits of Structured Multi Disciplinary Medical Ethical Decision Making

Background/aim: Until 2008, medical ethical decision making (MEDM) in the NICU lacked structure. Moral deliberation and effecting ethical decisions were not up to standard. A guideline to improve MEDM was developed, and evaluated one year after implementation. Method: The guideline consisted of multidisciplinary meetings presided by an independent chair, and uniform preparation and report. Meetings were structured following a five phase model: 1) exploration, 2) agreement on the ethical question, 3) analysis, 4) evaluating possible solutions, decision-making, 5) planning actions. Initially, health care workers (HCW) of the NICU were trained in ethical/legal aspects and practiced the method with a historical patient case. Before the training, HCW completed a 15-item questionnaire on ‘structure’, ‘role participants’, ‘parental representation’, ‘problems, solutions and deliberation’, and ‘decisions and documentation’. One year and 22 structured meetings after introduction, the same questionnaire was completed again. Results: Response before and after introduction of the guideline was 91/114 (80%) and 85/123 (69%) respectively. Nurses and physicians were equally represented in the two samples (N=63/63, and N=19/14; χ2=.601; p=.438). Evaluation of the guideline showed improvement in ‘structure of MEDM’ (p<.000 for all 5 items), ‘role participants’ (p<.000 for all 3 items), ‘parental representation’ (p<.000, for 1 item), and ‘problems, solutions and deliberation’ (p<.000, for 2 items; the 3rd item treatment options did not improve, p=.932). ‘Decisions and documentation’ showed no improvement (3 items, p=.215, p=.412 and p=.066 respectively). Conclusions: Ethical deliberation significantly improved after implementation of structured MEDM. Ongoing attention will be paid to ‘documentation of the decisions’.

The representation of children and their parents in public law proceedings since theChildren Act1989: high hopes and lost opportunities?

The Children Act 1989 revolutionised the way in which care proceedings were conducted. Gone were the rudimentary procedures of the old system, where parents and children had limited access to independent representation. Instead, the Act enabled the local authority, parents and children to be equally represented and for evidence to be presented in an open and accessible manner. The changes were widely welcomed and hailed as the most significant reform of children's law for decades. Drawing on academic, legal and policy literature, this article examines the changing nature and context for the representation of children and parents over the past two decades. While there have been developments that have strengthened the representation of children and parents, it is argued that more recent changes, including increased bureaucracy and the introduction of the Public Law Outline, may well have the effect of subverting the system introduced by the Children Act 1989 and of returning matters to the inadequate pre‐existing system.

Attachment and Autism: Parental Attachment Representations and Relational Behaviors in the Parent-Child Dyad

While attachment research has demonstrated that parents' internal working models of attachment relationships tend to be transmitted to their children, affecting children's developmental trajectories, this study specifically examines associations between adult attachment status and observable parent, child, and dyadic behaviors among children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders of relating and communicating. The Adult Attachment Interview (AAI) was employed to derive parental working models of attachment relationships. The Functional Emotional Assessment Scale (FEAS) was used to determine the quality of relational and functional behaviors in parents and their children. The sample included parents and their 4- to 16-year-old children with autism and associated neurodevelopmental disorders. Hypothesized relationships between AAI classifications and FEAS scores were supported. Significant correlations were found between AAI classification and FEAS scores, indicating that children with autism spectrum disorders whose parents demonstrated secure attachment representations were better able to initiate and respond in two-way pre-symbolic gestural communication; organize two-way social problem-solving communication; and engage in imaginative thinking, symbolic play, and verbal communication. These findings lend support to the relevance of the parent's state of mind pertaining to attachment status to child and parent relational behavior in cases wherein the child has been diagnosed with autism or an associated neurodevelopmental disorder of relating and communicating. A model emerges from these findings of conceptualizing relationships between parental internal models of attachment relationships and parent-child relational and functional levels that may aid in differentiating interventions.

Some thoughts on the concept of the internal parental couple

Some patients are incapable of engaging in a relationship with a partner on a long‐term basis. To explain these relationship issues, they invoke reasons that have to do with external reality rather than with their own internal reality. The authors present several clinical examples that have given rise to an initial attempt at theorizing the concept of the internal couple: some patients fail to internalize a positive representation in which they can see themselves as part of a couple. Psychoanalysts tend to think of the father and mother (or their internal representatives) as separate entities, differentiated and complementary, and not in terms of a single object that brings them together as an internal couple. In the author’s view, an internal parental couple is also internalized by the infant under the guise of various internal objects. The internal parental couple thus appears as a complex construction that goes beyond the mere addition of father plus mother. Underneath their neurotic veneer, these patients have severely damaged representations of internal parents and of the internal parental couple. Unable to identify with a stable and procreative internal parental couple, they tend also to attack the psychoanalytic couple. Early distortions in the oedipal sphere may be one cause of the stumbling‐block they encounter on the way to introjecting a well‐attuned couple‐as‐object and the idea of parenting.

Parental Separation and Children's Behavioral/Emotional Problems: The Impact of Parental Representations and Family Conflict

In this longitudinal study, we examine whether the effect of parental separation on kindergarten children's behavioral/emotional problems varies according to the level of family conflict, and children's parental representations. One hundred and eighty seven children were assessed at ages 5 and 6. Family conflict was assessed using parents' ratings. Children's parental representations were assessed using a story-stem task. A multiinformant approach (parent, teacher, child) was employed to assess children's behavioral/emotional problems. Bivariate results showed that separation, family conflict, and negative parental representations were associated with children's behavioral/emotional problems. However, in multivariate analyses, when controlling for gender and symptoms at age 5, we found that children of separated parents who showed negative parental representations had a significantly greater increase in conduct problems between 5 and 6 than all other children. In terms of emotional symptoms and hyperactivity, symptoms at 5 and (for hyperactivity only) gender were the only predictors for symptoms 1 year later. Our results suggest that kindergarten children's representations of parent-child relationships moderate the impact of parental separation on the development of conduct problems, and underline play and narration as a possible route to access the thoughts and feelings of young children faced with parental separation.

The Impact of Parent, Child, and Therapist Mental Representations on Attachment-Based Intervention with Prepubertal Children

Although attachment-based interventions with mothers and infants are beginning to flourish, guidelines for developing attachment-based intervention with prepubertal children are lacking. This article remedies this lack by discussing the potential intervention points of entry with prepubertal children based on attachment theory. In contrast to attachment-based early intervention, in which parental characteristics are targeted, attachment-based intervention with prepubertal children must include the child as well as the parents. Therapists attempting such an intervention must take into account the quality of the child’s mental representation as well as their own quality of mental representation to provide an effective clinical experience.

Parenting representations: theory, research, and clinical implications. Edited by Ofra Mayseless. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006. pp. 460. Price: £59.00; $106. ISBN 0521828872

Infant and Child DevelopmentVolume 18, Issue 5 p. 474-476 Book ReviewFree Access Parenting representations: theory, research, and clinical implications. Edited by Ofra Mayseless. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006. pp. 460. Price: £59.00; $106. ISBN 0521828872 Alina Morawska, Alina Morawska School of Psychology, University of Queensland, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author Alina Morawska, Alina Morawska School of Psychology, University of Queensland, AustraliaSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 October 2009 https://doi.org/10.1002/icd.610AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume18, Issue5September/October 2009Pages 474-476 ReferencesRelatedInformation

O direito ao ensino de qualidade: representações sociais de uma comunidade

This research identifies and analyzes the social representations of teachers, the students and parents about full-time school and the right to education of quality. Part of the assumptions that the security of subjective public right to education is constitutional; the full¬-time school allows an education of better quality; the representations of management team, teachers, students and parents about the issue, influencing the practices teaching; the family's participation in the educational process of children, as well as the involvement of students in their learning process, ensure the quality of teaching in schools. Accordingly, the Education Law, Moscovici and Jodelet bring significant contributions. The guiding methodology of this study gives a stamp of quality and uses as tools for data collection to free association of words, semi-structured questionnaire, document analysis, interviews, diary of field and literature search. The analysis and interpretation of data point to the assertion that the Constitutional Education Law to the teaching quality is understood by children, teachers and parents investigated as a fact in full-time school, although the stay of students in school is not a sine qua non for the security of this law, nor for success in school. Also shows that for parents the more important is access and permanence of children in school, because then you can have a balanced diet and staying away from the dangers that the street offers. These approaches contribute on the discussion about the role of the whole school community in the search for the quality of education and ensuring educational rights that are inherent to the citizen. Keywords: Right to Education subjective public. Right to education of quality. School Integration time. Social Representations. Educational Law.

O DIREITO AO ENSINO DE QUALIDADE: REPRESENTAÇÕES SOCIAIS DE UMA COMUNIDADE

This research identifies and analyzes the social representations of teachers, the students and parents about full-time school and the right to education of quality. Part of the assumptions that the security of subjective public right to education is constitutional; the full¬-time school allows an education of better quality; the representations of management team, teachers, students and parents about the issue, influencing the practices teaching; the family's participation in the educational process of children, as well as the involvement of students in their learning process, ensure the quality of teaching in schools. Accordingly, the Education Law, Moscovici and Jodelet bring significant contributions. The guiding methodology of this study gives a stamp of quality and uses as tools for data collection to free association of words, semi-structured questionnaire, document analysis, interviews, diary of field and literature search. The analysis and interpretation of data point to the assertion that the Constitutional Education Law to the teaching quality is understood by children, teachers and parents investigated as a fact in full-time school, although the stay of students in school is not a sine qua non for the security of this law, nor for success in school. Also shows that for parents the more important is access and permanence of children in school, because then you can have a balanced diet and staying away from the dangers that the street offers. These approaches contribute on the discussion about the role of the whole school community in the search for the quality of education and ensuring educational rights that are inherent to the citizen. Keywords: Right to Education subjective public. Right to education of quality. School Integration time. Social Representations. Educational Law.