Parent ADHD Is Associated With Greater Parenting Distress in the First Year Postpartum

Objective: Little is known about the experience of parenting infants when a mother or father has ADHD. This study examined cross-sectional predictors of parenting distress experienced by parents with and without ADHD who also have infants. Methods: Participants were 73 mother-father pairs ( N = 146) of infants 6 to 10 months old. Half of the families included a parent with ADHD. Psychosocial predictors were tested using multilevel modeling. Results: Parent or partner ADHD, lower parent sleep quality, fewer social supports, and less infant surgency and effortful control were associated with greater parental distress. Infant negative affect and sleep were not associated. Conclusions: Parents with ADHD and their partners experience greater parenting distress in the first year of their child’s life than parents without ADHD. Addressing parent ADHD symptoms and co-occurring difficulties, including sleep disturbances, are potential targets for early interventions to maximize both parent and infant mental health outcomes.

“Nobody Listened”. Mothers’ Experiences and Needs Regarding Professional Support Prior to Their Admission to an Infant Mental Health Day Clinic

Challenges during the perinatal period can lead to maternal distress, negatively affecting mother-infant interaction. This study aims to retrospectively explore the experiences and needs regarding professional support of mothers with difficulties in mother-infant interaction prior to their admission to an infant mental health day clinic. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 mothers who had accessed an infant mental health day clinic because of persistent severe infant regulatory problems impairing the wellbeing of the infant and the family. Data were transcribed and analyzed using the Qualitative Analysis Guide of Leuven (QUAGOL). Three themes were identified: ‘experience of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood’; ‘difficult care paths’; and ‘needs and their fulfillment’. The first theme consisted of three subthemes: (1) ‘reality does not meet expectations’, (2) ‘resilience under pressure’, and (3) ‘despair’. Mothers experienced negative feelings that were in contradiction to the expected positive emotions associated with childbirth and motherhood. Resilience-related problems affected the mother-child relationship, and infants’ regulatory capacities. Determined to find solutions, different healthcare providers were consulted. Mothers’ search for help was complex and communication between healthcare providers was limited because of a fragmented care provision. This hindered the continuity of care and appropriate referrals. Another pitfall was the lack of a broader approach, with the emphasis on the medical aspects without attention to the mother-child dyad. An integrated care pathway focusing on the early detection of resilience-related problems and sufficient social support can be crucial in the prevention and early detection of perinatal and infant mental health problems.

Like Taking a Magnifying Glass Into Everyday Life: Vulnerable Parents’ Experiences With Video Guidance in an Infant Mental Health Clinic

Background: Parents are a central focus in clinical infant mental health interventions because of the key importance of the caregiver-infant relationship, especially when dyads are burdened by psychosocial and parental mental health problems. However, knowledge is scarce about the lived experience of vulnerable parents who undergo video-based guidance.Aim: The study explores how parents in an infant-psychiatric outpatient clinic who struggled to mentalize and remain emotionally connected to their infant experienced helpful and challenging elements in video guidance.Method: We analyzed the interviews of a strategic sample of 12 parents after undergoing Marte Meo video guidance, using a team-based, reflexive thematic analysis (TA).Results: We identified four main themes: (a) Handling initial feelings of fear and loss of control; (b) Filming as a disturbing or agentic experience; (c) Feeling validated or devalued in the therapeutic relationship; and (d) Bringing insights from video guidance into everyday life. Therapeutic and existential factors became apparent in the main themes of adjustment to the guidance, experiences with filming, the therapeutic relationship and integration of new experiences.Conclusion: The parents’ sense of agency, dignity, and shame may be important for their ability to integrate new ideas about themselves.Implications: Video guidance for vulnerable parents in specialized clinical treatment should address relational challenges, parental mental health, and issues of recognition.

Learning to mentalize: Exploring vulnerable parents’ experiences of change during video guidance in an infant mental health clinic

Background Interventions that promote infant mental health face challenges when applied for parents who struggle with psychosocial and psychological burdens. Video-based guidance using the Marte Meo method is used in specialized clinical settings with high-risk families to improve parent-child interaction, parental sensitivity and mentalizing. However, knowledge about the lifeworlds of these parents and their experiences of the therapeutic process during video guidance is limited. Aim This qualitative study explores how parents in an infant mental health outpatient clinic who had difficulties mentalizing and maintaining an emotional connection with their infants experienced the change process during Marte Meo video guidance. Methods We identified a strategic sample of parents with difficulties mentalizing and maintaining an emotional connection with their infants through the Parent Development Interview. Twelve parents received video guidance and were afterwards interviewed in-depth. The research interviews were qualitatively analysed via a team-based reflexive thematic analysis. Result We identified four themes: a) feeling inadequate or disconnected as a parent; b) discovering the infant as a relating and intentional person; c) becoming more agentic and interconnected; and d) still feeling challenged by personal mental health issues. Conclusion Parents described positive changes in their interactions, in mentalizing their infants, the relationship and themselves as parents, in their experiences of self-efficacy and on a representational level. They also described increased confidence and improved coping despite ongoing personal mental health challenges. The findings suggest that video guidance using the Marte Meo method can be a critical intervention for vulnerable parents but should be coordinated with parents’ primary treatments when complex parental mental health issues are involved.