1. Predictors of stability and change in maternal and paternal sensitivity in the first 18 months postpartum BACKGROUND Hervé Tissot, PhD 1, Nicolas Favez, PhD 1, and France Frascarolo-Moutinot, PhD 2 1[FPSE, University of Geneva, Switzerland] 2[CEF, IUP, Lausanne University Hospital and University of Lausanne, Switzerland] This research has been supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation, SNSF grant 32003B_125493 Cont@ct: herve.tissot@unige.ch Parental sensitivity (PS) is the aptitude of the parent to perceive the child’s signals and to respond to them accurately and with appropriate timing. [1] PS is a strong predictor of child social and affective development (e.g. attachment security). No longitudinal studies have compared the evolution of maternal and paternal sensitivity in infancy, and the factors that will influence this evolution. A few variables, e.g. parental self-esteem, parental alliance (coparenting), marital satisfaction, depression, socioeconomic adversity, have been identified as predictors of maternal sensitivity, but still need to be tested in fathers, and as predictors of change in PS. HYPOTHESES Higher PS at 3 months (baseline) in both parents are linked with higher SES, parental self-esteem, coparental alliance, and marital satisfaction, and with lower depression Secondary research question: To what extent are the changes in PS linked to the hypothesized predictors? 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0.5 1 0 1 SES M SES F Parental teamwork M Parental teamwork F Coparental respect F Depressive symptoms M M sensit. T1 M sensit. Intercept F sensit. Intercept M sensit. Slope F sensit. Slope.50**.43** 1.23*** -.59* 1.18* -.86* -.69* 1.38** -1.66*** -1.53*** M sensit. T2 M sensit. T3 F sensit. T1 F sensit. T2 F sensit. T3 To investigate the influence of parents’ socioeconomic status (SES), parental self-esteem, parental alliance, marital satisfaction, and parental depression on the development of mothers’ and fathers’ sensitivity from 3 to 18 months AIM OF THE STUDY 74.6% married couples SES: 61% of fathers and 68% of mothers in upper-middle class or above Mean age (years): M = 32.4 for mothers and M = 35.0 for fathers Children: 37 boys (54.4%) and 31 girls (45.6 %) Research design and procedure T1 3 months Lab visit Questionnaires Measures  Parental sensitivity: CARE-Index coding system [2] PS coded through facial expression, vocal expression, position and body contact, arousal and affection, turn-taking, control, choice of activity. Highest score of sensitivity: 14 points. Range of Interrater reliability: between ICC =.72 and ICC =.83  Predictors (self-report questionnaires)  SES: Hollingshead’s [3] two-factor index (1 = lower class to 5 = upper class)  Parental self-esteem: Being A Parent (BAP). [4] 12 items, 7-point scales. 2 Factors: Parental efficacy (6 items; α =.78) and parental satisfaction (6 items; α =.79)  Parental alliance: Parental Alliance Measure (PAM). [5] 20 items, 5-point scales. 2 factors: Teamwork (17 items; α =.91) and respect (3 items; α =.78)  Marital satisfaction: Marital Adjustment Test (MAT). [6] 15 items, various metrics. Sum of the items = Total score (max. 157 points; α =.73)  Parental depression: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). [7] 10 items, 4-point scales. Sum of the items = total score (max. 30 points; α =.73) Lab visit Lab visit: mother-child and father-child free play (3 minutes each) RESULT 1: COMPARING THE EVOLUTION OF MATERNAL AND PATERNAL SENSITIVITY (SEE TABLE 1)  Differences between Paired t-tests all non significant  Analysis of the evolution of sensitivity from T1 to T3 for both parents: latent growth curve models (whithout predictors):  Model fit: χ 2 = 48.585, df = 7, p =.284, CFI =.988, RMSEA =.058, 90% CI [.000,.167]  Significant slope means for mothers (M =.50, p <.01) and fathers (M =.35, p <.05)  change from T1 to T3 is significant  Significant covariances between intercept and slopes for both mothers (Cov = -1.86, p <.05) and fathers (Cov = -1.29, p <.05)  Parents who start with lower scores show greater increase RESULT 2: PREDICTORS OF STABILITY AND CHANGE IN MATERNAL AND PATERNAL SENSITIVITY (SEE FIGURE 1)  7 predictors for each parent: SES, parental efficacy and satisfaction, parental teamwork and respect, marital satisfaction, and depression  Tested as predictors of parents’ intercept (baseline) and slope (change)  Results of parameter estimation:  Higher mothers’ SES predicts higher scores at baseline for both parents; higher fathers’ SES predict greater increase in fathers’ sensitivity from T1 to T3  Greater teamwork assessed by mothers is associated with fathers’ lower sensitivity scores at baseline, but with greater increase.  Father’s assessment of teamwork is also associated with greater increase in maternal sensitivity  Maternal depressive symptoms predict weaker change in both parents’ sensitivity  Coparental respect assessed by fathers leads to weaker change in both parents’ sensitivity  Both parents’ marital satisfaction and parental self-esteem, coparental respect assessed by mothers, and paternal depression were not significant RESULTS Note. Model fit: χ 2 = 40.557, df = 35, p =.239, CFI =.987, RMSEA =.048, 90% CI [.000,.104]. Only significant predictors are displayed. Covariances between the predictors and covariances between parents’ intercepts and slopes were computed, but are not reported here. Only standardized parameter estimates are reported. SES = socioeconomic status; M = mother; F = father;T1 = time 1, 3 months; T2 = time 2, 9 months; T3 = time 3, 18 months. *p <.05. **p <.01. ***p <.001. METHOD T1 T2 T3 VariablesMSD M M Sensitivity mother Sensitivity father 9.10 9.07 3.01 2.85 9.31 9.16 2.90 2.83 10.12 9.80 2.36 2.79 Table 1. Evolution of sensitivity scores from T1 to T3 No quantitative differences in sensitivity between fathers and mothers Sensitivity tends to increase during infancy, particularly for the parents who are in the lower range at baseline: learning effect? Higher baseline scores in families with high SES mothers Parental teamwork helps parents to increase Depression (only in mothers) not related to baseline parenting capacities, but to a capacity to learn to become a more sensitive parent CONCLUSION Figure 1. Predictors of intercept (baseline) and slope (linear change) of sensitivity scores for mothers and fathers from T1 to T3. References [1] Ainsworth, M. D. S., Bell, S. M., & Stayton, D. S. (1974). Mother–infant attachment and social development. In M. P. M. Richards (Ed.), The integration of the child into the social world (pp. 99–135). London, UK: Cambridge University Press. [2] Crittenden, P. M. (2006). Care-Index infants coding manual. Miami, FL: Family Relations Institute. [3] Hollingshead, A. B. (1957). Two factor index of social position. University of Yale. New Haven, CT. [4] Johnston, C., & Mash, E. J. (1989). A measure of parenting satisfaction and efficacy. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 18, 167-175. doi: 10.1207/s15374424jccp1802_8 [5] Abidin, R. R., & Konold, T. R. (1999). Parenting Alliance Measure professional manual. Odessa, FL: Psychological Assessment Resources. [6] Locke, H. J., & Wallace, K. M. (1959). Short marital-adjustment and prediction tests: Their reliability and validity. Marriage and Family Living, 21, 251–255. doi: 10.2307/3480221 [7] Cox, J., Holden, J., & Sagovsky, R. (1987). Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782-786. T2 9 months T3 18 months