Abstract
Objectives
Grounded in Attachment Theory core conceptualization, maternal caregiving system, and reflective functioning this study aimed at examining whether maternal mental state and dispositions translate to how mothers play with their children.
Methods
This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed-method design consisting of qualitative approach and a quantitative cross-sectional design to explore maternal caregiving, reflective functioning, and support provided to child during joint play at the home environment. Seventy mother-child dyads were sampled for the quantitative phase. Measures used: Caregiving System Function scale, Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire, and an observation scale, Parent/Caregiver Support of Child’s Playfulness to asses 15-min video recording of joint play. Next, twenty observations were selected for the qualitative analysis.
Results
Maternal avoidant caregiving predicted reflective functioning, R2 = 0.15, β = −0.038. Anxious caregiving predicted rumination tendency, R2 = 0.16, β = 0.41. Reflective functioning predicted maternal support during joint play, R2 = 0.27, β = 0.27. Maternal caregiving dispositions predicated reflective functioning, which in turn predicted maternal support of child playfulness during joint play. From the qualitative analysis, of a sub-set of 20 dyads, the Balancing of task-oriented and process-oriented behaviors framework emerged and deepened our understanding of joint play experience during middle childhood period.
Conclusions
Mothers who demonstrated enhanced support of their child’s playfulness demonstrated higher reflective functioning. Researchers, as well as clinicians, can use the proposed framework to explore maternal support and parental dispositions and its effect on child’s and dyadic behaviors.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aoki, Y., Zeanah, C. H., Scott-Heller, S., & Bakshi, S. (2002). Parent–infant relationship global assessment scale: a study of its predictive validity. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 56, 493–497. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1440-1819.2002.01044.x.
Barnett, L. A. (1990). Playfulness: definition, design, and measurement. Play and Culture, 3, 319–336.
Bekar, O., Steele, M., Shahmoon-Shanok, R., & Steele, H. (2018). Mothers’ mental state talk and preschool children’s social-behavioral functioning: a multidimensional account, Journal of Infant, Child, and Adolescent Psychotherapy, 17, 119–133. https://doi.org/10.1080/15289168.2018.1456890.
Benbassat, N., & Priel, B. (2012). Parenting and adolescent adjustment: the role of parental reflective functioning. Journal of Adolescence, 35, 163–174. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2.
Bergen, D., & Fromberg, D. P. (2009). Play and social interaction in middle childhood. Phi Delta Kappan, 90(6), 426–430. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172170909000610.
Blacher J., & Feinfield K. A. (2013). Caregiving in middle childhood: coping with typical and atypical development. In: R. Talley & R. Montgomery (Eds.), Caregiving across the lifespan (pp. 21–46). New York, NY: Springer.
Bloomberg, L. D., & Volpe, M. (2016). Completing your qualitative dissertation: a road map from beginning to end. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
Bowlby, J. (1988). A secure base: parent-child attachment and healthy human development. New York: Basic Books.
Borelli, J. L., Hong, K., Rasmussen, H. F., & Smiley, P. A. (2017). Reflective functioning, physiological reactivity, and overcontrol in mothers: links with school-aged children’s reflective functioning. Developmental Psychology, 53, 1680–1693.https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000371.
Boyd, D., & Bee, H. (2015). Lifespan development. 7th ed Toronto, Canada: Pearson Canada Inc.
Bradley, R. H., Pennar, A., & Iida, M. (2015). Ebb and flow in parent-child interactions: shifts from early through middle childhood. Parenting, 15, 295–320. https://doi.org/10.1080/15295192.2015.1065120.
Creswell, J. W. & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design. choosing among five approaches. 4th ed Melbourne, Australia: SAGE Publications, Inc.
Finzi-Dottan, R. (2019). Acceptance and caregiving of married and divorced custodial mothers and fathers. Marriage & Family Review, 55, 384–401.
Fonagy, P., & Target, M. (1998). Mentalization and the changing aims of child psychoanalysis. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 8, 87–114.
George, C., & Solomon, J. (2008). The caregiving system: a behavioral-system approach to parenting. In J. Cassidy & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Handbook of attachment: theory, research, and clinical applications (pp. 833–856). 2nd ed New York: Guilford Press.
Hess, L. M., & Bundy, A. C. (2003). The association between playfulness and coping in adolescents. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 23, 5–17.
Howard, J., Miles, G. E., Rees‐Davies, L., & Bertenshaw, E. J. (2017). Play in middle childhood: everyday play behaviour and associated emotions. Children and Society, 31, 378–389. https://doi.org/10.1111/chso.12208.
Kriss, A., Steele, H., & Steele, M. (2012). Measuring attachment and reflective functioning in early adolescence: an introduction to the friends and family interview research in psychotherapy. Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 15, 87–95. https://doi.org/10.7411/RP.2012.009.
Lam, C. B., McHale, S. M., & Crouter, A. C. (2012). Parent-child shared time from middle childhood to late adolescence: developmental course and adjustment correlates. Child Development, 83, 2089–2103. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01826.x.
Moreira, H., & Canavarro, M. C. (2015). Individual and gender differences in mindful parenting: the role of attachment and caregiving representations. Personality and Individual Differences, 87, 13–19.
Moustakas, C. E. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Ordway, M. R., Webb, D., Sadler, L. S., & Slade, A. (2015). Parental reflective functioning: an approach to enhancing parent-child relationships in pediatric primary care. Journal of Pediatric Health Care, 29, 325–334. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pedhc.2014.12.002.
Oren, A. (2008). The use of board games in child psychotherapy. Journal of Child Psychotherapy, 34, 364–383. https://doi.org/10.1080/00754170802472893.
Parham, L. D., & Primeau, L. A. (2008). Play and occupational therapy. In L. D. Parham & L. S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in occupational therapy for children (pp. 2–21). 2nd ed St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc
Reizer, A., & Mikulincer, M. (2007). Assessing individual differences in working models of caregiving: the construction and validation of the mental representation of caregiving scale. Journal of Individual Difference, 28, 227–239.
Saunders, I., Sayer, M., & Goodale, A. (1999). The relationship between playfulness and coping in preschool children: a pilot study. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53, 221–226.
Schultheis, A. M., Mayes, L. C., & Rutherford, H. J. V. (2019). Associations between emotion regulation and parental reflective functioning. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 28, 1094–1104. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-018-01326-z.
Selcuk, E., Günaydin, G., Sumer, N., Harma, M., Salman, S., Hazan, C., Dogruyol, B., & Ozturk, A. (2010). Self-reported romantic attachment style predicts everyday maternal caregiving behavior at home. Journal of Research in Personality, 44, 544–549.
Shaver, P. R., Mikulincer, M., & Shemesh-Iron, M. (2010). A behavioral systems perspective on prosocial behavior. In M. Mikulincer & P. R. Shaver (Eds.), Prosocial motives, emotions, and behavior: the better angles of our nature (pp. 72–91). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Skard, G., & Bundy, A. C. (2008). Test of playfulness. In L.D. Parham & L.S. Fazio (Eds.), Play in occupational therapy for children (pp. 71–93). 2nd ed St. Louis: Mosby, Inc.
Slade, A., Grienenberger, J., Bernbach, E., Levy, D., & Locker, A. (2005). Maternal reflective functioning, attachment, and the transmission gap: a preliminary study. Attachment & Human Development, 7, 283–298. https://doi.org/10.1080/14616730500245880.
Slade, A. (2007). Reflective parenting programs: theory and development. Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 26, 640–657. https://doi.org/10.1080/07351690701310698.
Spinelli, E. (1989). The interpreted world. London, United Kingdom: Sage.
Taubman-Ben-Ari, O., & Noy, A. (2010). Self-consciousness and death cognitions from a terror management perspective. Death Studies, 34, 871–892.
Trapnell, P. D., & Campbell, J. D. (1999). Private self-consciousness and the five-factor model of personality: distinguishing rumination from reflection. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 284–304.
Waldman-Levi, A., & Bundy, A. (2016). A Glimpse into co-occupations: parent’s support of young children’s playfulness scale. Occupational Therapy in Mental Health, 32, 217–227.
Waldman-Levi, A., Grinion, S., & Olson, L. (2019). Effects of maternal views and support on childhood development through joint play. The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy, 7, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.15453/2168-6408.1613.
Waldman-Levi, A., Sheills, M., Bundy, A., & Olson, L. (2017). Co-occupations: feasibility of a comprehensive in-depth assessment procedure. The American Occupational Therapy Association Annual Conference Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Waldman-Levi, A., & Weintraub, N. (2015). Efficacy of a crisis intervention for improving mother–child interaction and the children’s play functions. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 69, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2015.013375.
Winnicott, D. W. (1999). The child, the family and the outside world. Tel-Aviv, Israel: Sifriat Poalim Publishing House Ltd.
Zvara, B. J., Sheppard, K. W., & Cox, M. (2018). Bidirectional effects between parenting sensitivity and child behavior: a cross-lagged analysis across middle childhood and adolescence. Journal of Family Psychology, 32, 484–495.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to express their sincere appreciation to the mothers and their children who willingly volunteered to participate in this study. We are thankful to our students who assisted us from M.A. program in Sapir Academic College, School of Social Work; and from the Department of Occupational Therapy Long Island University-Brooklyn, NY, US.
Author Contributions
A.W.L. designed the study, analyzed data, and wrote the paper. F.D.R. designed the study, collected data, and collaborated with writing the paper. A.C. assisted in qualitative analysis, literature review, and collaborated with writing the paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Ethical Approval
The present study adhered to the Declaration of Helsinki and was approved by the institutional review board of the Sapir College, Israel (17.11.2017)
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all mother participants included in the study; child’s assent was obtained as well.
Additional information
Publisher’s note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waldman-Levi, A., Finzi-Dottan, R. & Cope, A. Mother-child Joint Play: The Role of Maternal Caregiving and Reflective Function. J Child Fam Stud 29, 94–104 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01638-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-019-01638-8