Reflective Functioning, Physiological Reactivity, and Overcontrol in Mothers: Links With School-Aged Children's Reflective Functioning
Reflective Functioning, Physiological Reactivity, and Overcontrol in Mothers: Links With School-Aged Children's Reflective Functioning
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DOI：
10.1037/dev0000371
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发表时间：
2017-09-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Smiley, Patricia A.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Borelli, Jessica L.;Hong, Kajung;Smiley, Patricia A.
理论家认为，父母的反射功能(PRF)是对情绪做出反应时被激活的，这可能支持了父母的敏感性，即使在唤醒情绪很高的情况下也是如此。也就是说，当父母在与孩子互动时变得情绪反应时，那些能够使用PRF理解孩子心理状态的人应该能够敏感地为人父母，这反过来又应该促进孩子理解自己的心理状态的能力。我们通过检验在面对生理反应时，母亲的PRF是否抑制了一种形式的育儿不敏感--过度控制(OC)，以及这个过程是否反过来预测了孩子的RF来检验这一理论。一个不同的学龄儿童样本(N=106，M-年龄=10.27岁)完成了一个标准化的失败范例，而他们的母亲被要求被动地观察。在压力源之后，母亲和孩子独立地完成了关于这项任务的访谈，这些访谈后来被编码为关于儿童心理状态的RF。母亲在应激源前后和访谈后提供唾液样本，随后进行皮质醇反应性分析；母亲在应激源任务期间的行为被编码为OC。在RF水平低的母亲中，皮质醇的增加与更多的OC表现相关，而在PRF水平高的母亲中，更高的皮质醇反应与更少的OC行为相关。对于低PRF的母亲来说，较高的反应性和OC预测其自身经历的较低的PRF。这些发现为PRF的保护功能提供了初步证据，并可能指出在减少父母OC的干预计划中促进PRF的重要性
Theorists argue that parental reflective functioning (PRF) is activated in response to emotions, potentially supporting parenting sensitivity even when arousal is high. That is, when parents become emotionally reactive when interacting with their children, those who can use PRF to understand their children's mental states should be able to parent sensitively, which, in turn, should promote children's ability to understand their own mental states. We test this theory by examining whether, in the face of physiological reactivity, mothers' PRF inhibits one form of parenting insensitivity, overcontrol (OC), and whether this process in turn predicts children's RF. A diverse sample of school- age children (N = 106, M-age = 10.27 years) completed a standardized failure paradigm while their mothers were asked to passively observe. Following the stressor, mothers and children independently completed interviews regarding the task, which were later coded for RF with respect to children's mental states. Mothers provided saliva samples before and after the stressor, and after the interview, which were later assayed for cortisol reactivity; maternal behavior during the stressor task was coded for OC. Among mothers with low levels of RF, greater increases in cortisol were associated with more displays of OC, whereas among mothers with high PRF, greater cortisol reactivity was associated with fewer OC behaviors. For low PRF mothers, higher reactivity and OC predicted lower children's PRF for their own experiences. The findings provide initial evidence for a protective function of PRF, and may point toward the importance of promoting PRF in intervention programs to reduce parental OC