Longitudinal Study of Maternal Beliefs About Infant Crying During the Postpartum Period: Interplay With Infant’s Temperament

Infant crying is an important signal for their survival and development, and maternal beliefs about crying predict responsiveness to crying. Most studies have considered caregivers’ reactions to crying to be fixed, and it is unclear how they change with their caregiving experience. Additionally, it has recently been suggested that there is a bidirectional relationship between changes in mothers’ beliefs about crying and infants’ temperament. This study examined that relationship using a longitudinal study design. Maternal beliefs about crying and infant temperament of 339 Asian first-time mothers (mean age = 28.7 years, SD = 4.1) were measured at 1-month intervals over 4 months. There were 289 participants in Wave 2, 240 in Wave 3, and 164 in Wave 4. Prior to the main survey, we conducted a pre-survey to confirm the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Infant Crying Questionnaire. The results showed that parent-oriented beliefs, which focus on the caregiver rather than the crying infant, increased in mothers who had infants aged 3 months or older at Wave 1. We also found that the process of change in maternal beliefs was not uniform, and that infants high on surgency predicted changes in maternal beliefs about infant crying. Longitudinal studies of caregivers’ changes, such as the present study, are expected to contribute to understanding the co-development of caregivers and infants.

Effect of postpartum experience and infant temperament on maternal beliefs about infant crying

Infant crying is an important signal for their survival and socio-cognitive development. It is unclear how maternal beliefs about infant crying change with their caregiving experience. Additionally, this study examined a bidirectional relationship between maternal beliefs and infants’ temperament using longitudinal study design. Maternal beliefs about crying and infant temperament of first-time mothers were measured at 1-month intervals over a 4-month period (N = 339 at Wave 1 and N = 164 at Wave 4). We found that parent-oriented beliefs about crying increased with the mother’s experience, and that infants high on surgency predicted changes in maternal beliefs. The current results suggest that the maternal beliefs change with an infant’s development and parenting experience in the early postpartum period.

Effect of postpartum experience and infant temperament on maternal beliefs about infant crying

Infant crying is an important signal for their survival and socio-cognitive development, and maternal beliefs about crying predict responsiveness to crying. Most studies have considered caregivers’ reactions to crying to be fixed, and it is unclear how they change with their caregiving experience. Additionally, it has recently been suggested that there is a bidirectional relationship between changes in mothers’ beliefs about crying and infants’ temperament. This study examined that relationship using longitudinal study design. Maternal beliefs about crying and infant temperament of first-time mothers were measured at 1-month intervals over a 4-month period. Prior to the main survey, we conducted a pre-survey to confirm the reliability and validity of the Japanese version of the Infant Crying Questionnaire. We found that parent-oriented beliefs, which focus on the caregiver rather than the crying infant, increased with the mother’s experience, and that infants high on surgency predicted changes in maternal beliefs about infant crying. The current results suggest that the beliefs required by caregivers change with an infant’s development and parenting experience in the early postpartum period. Longitudinal studies of caregivers’ changes, such as the present study, are expected to contribute to the understanding of co-development of caregivers and infants.

Disordered eating in the postpartum period: Role of psychological distress, body dissatisfaction, dysfunctional maternal beliefs and self-compassion

The present cross-sectional study tested the affect regulation model of disordered eating for women in the postpartum period, whereby disordered eating is used to cope with psychological distress. Two hundred and two women who had given birth in the last two years completed an online survey of self-report measures of study variables. Path analyses supported the primary hypothesis: negative affect mediated relationships between body dissatisfaction, dysfunctional maternal beliefs, negative components of self-compassion and disordered eating behaviours, particularly binge eating. Results suggest that negative affect plays a central role in postpartum disordered eating. Interventions to address maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, specifically targeting body image distress and self-critical maternal thoughts may improve eating behaviours for this population.

Disciplinary behavior of mothers of preschool children: Effects of maternal effi cacy beliefs, children’s gender and age, and mothers’ education

Disciplining a child is one of the most challenging parental tasks. Efficacy beliefs contribute to make this experience more or less successful. The purpose of this study is to examine the predictive role of efficacy beliefs on maternal disciplinary behavior. A total of 128 mothers of pre-school aged children participated in this study. They were asked to complete the Parental Disciplinary Behavior Scale and the Efficacy Subscale of the Parenting Sense of Competence. Results showed that mothers use inductive behavior more frequently and perceive these behaviors as the most effective ones. Power assertion is explained by the child’s age, the mother’s educational level, her perception of parental self-efficacy and also by her maternal beliefs about the effectiveness of both power assertion and non-physical punishment. Non-physical punishment is explained by maternal beliefs regarding the effectiveness of both non-physical punishment and inductive behavior. Finally, induction is explained according to the child’s gender and the maternal belief about the effectiveness of these inductive behaviors. These results are especially relevant to the field of parenting intervention, underlining the importance of addressing efficacy beliefs to promote behavioral change.