Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Department of Psychology, Montana State University Billings, Montana, USA.
Infant Ment Health J. 2021 Nov;42(6):796-811. doi: 10.1002/imhj.21948. Epub 2021 Oct 13.
Mothers' representations reflect how they experience their child and their relationship, and can guide parenting behavior. While studies of representations typically focus on infancy, this study examines associations between mothers' representations and behavior with their preschoolers using two samples: young mothers (n = 201; 42% African American, 42% Latina, 8% European-American, 8% multi-ethnic; M = 32 months) and mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder (OUD; n = 150; 100% African American; M = 49 months). This study aims to identify the distribution of representations within these populations, differences in parenting between mothers classified with balanced and non-balanced representations, and distinct parenting behaviors associated with distorted and disengaged representations. The Working Model of the Child Interview was conducted to assess representations, and mother-child interactions were video-recorded. The distribution of balanced, distorted, and disengaged representations was 59%, 25%, and 15% among young mothers, and 21%, 39%, and 40% among mothers with OUD. Balanced representations (coherent, rich, engaged, respectful) were associated with positive parenting, including sensitivity, autonomy support, cognitive support and less negative regard among young mothers, and sensitivity and encouragement in the OUD sample. Mothers with disengaged representations (emotionally distant, lacking detail, indifferent) demonstrated less support for learning compared to mothers with distorted representations (involved but inconsistent, negative, or bizarre descriptions of child).
母亲的代表反映了她们对孩子和亲子关系的体验，可以指导育儿行为。虽然代表性研究通常集中在婴儿期，但本研究使用两个样本考察了母亲对学龄前儿童的代表性与行为之间的关联：年轻母亲（n=201；42%为非裔美国人，42%为拉丁裔，8%为欧裔美国人，8%为多种族；M=32 个月）和接受阿片类药物使用障碍治疗的母亲（n=150；100%为非裔美国人；M=49 个月）。本研究旨在确定这些人群中代表性的分布情况、具有平衡和非平衡代表性的母亲之间育儿行为的差异，以及与扭曲和不参与代表性相关的独特育儿行为。采用儿童工作模型访谈评估代表性，同时对母子互动进行视频记录。年轻母亲中具有平衡、扭曲和不参与代表性的比例分别为 59%、25%和 15%，而患有阿片类药物使用障碍的母亲中这一比例分别为 21%、39%和 40%。平衡的代表性（连贯、丰富、投入、尊重）与积极的育儿行为相关，包括年轻母亲的敏感性、自主性支持、认知支持和较少的消极关注，以及阿片类药物使用障碍组的敏感性和鼓励。与具有扭曲代表性的母亲相比，具有不参与代表性的母亲（情感疏远、缺乏细节、漠不关心）表现出对学习的支持较少，而具有扭曲代表性的母亲（参与但不一致、消极或对孩子有奇异描述）。
