Working model of the child interview : a cross-cultural examination of attachment representations

This study examined ethno-cultural influences on attachment representations by using a Grounded Theory analysis of the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI). Six participant interviews were transcribed and coded. Four main themes related to caregivers and their children emerged from this qualitative analysis: emotion regulation, stress response, caregiver roles and personality/relationship descriptors. Results indicated that there are both universal and ethno-cultural variations related to different components of attachment representations. Attachment story telling, caregiver language and parenting styles reflected variations in cultural values and beliefs of independent and interdependent cultures. Emotion regulation, stress response and caregiver roles were more reflective of universal attachment. Recommendations for further inquiry into the ethno-cultural influences on attachment representations are discussed. Clinical implications suggest that ethno-cultural context must be acknowledged when interpreting WMCI interviews with non-dominant interviewee backgrounds. As well, evidence is provided to support developing a culturally sensitive system for interpreting WMCI interviews.

Working model of the child interview : a cross-cultural examination of attachment representations

This study examined ethno-cultural influences on attachment representations by using a Grounded Theory analysis of the Working Model of the Child Interview (WMCI). Six participant interviews were transcribed and coded. Four main themes related to caregivers and their children emerged from this qualitative analysis: emotion regulation, stress response, caregiver roles and personality/relationship descriptors. Results indicated that there are both universal and ethno-cultural variations related to different components of attachment representations. Attachment story telling, caregiver language and parenting styles reflected variations in cultural values and beliefs of independent and interdependent cultures. Emotion regulation, stress response and caregiver roles were more reflective of universal attachment. Recommendations for further inquiry into the ethno-cultural influences on attachment representations are discussed. Clinical implications suggest that ethno-cultural context must be acknowledged when interpreting WMCI interviews with non-dominant interviewee backgrounds. As well, evidence is provided to support developing a culturally sensitive system for interpreting WMCI interviews.

Maternal Representations and Parenting Style in Children Born With and Without an Orofacial Cleft

Objective: To investigate the evolution of maternal representations (ie, the way parents perceive their child in term of temperament, character, behaviors, etc) of children with a cleft at 3 major milestones: before/after reconstructive surgeries and at school age. Parenting style was also analyzed and compared with parents of children born without a cleft. Design and participants: The sample was composed of 30 mothers of children with an orofacial cleft and 14 mothers of children without a cleft. Maternal representations were assessed when the child was 2 months (before surgery), 12 months (after surgery), and 5 years of age (when starting school) using semistructured interviews that were transcribed and coded according to the subscales of the Working Model of the Child Interview and the Parental Development Interview. At the 5-year appointment, mothers also completed a questionnaire about parenting style. Results: Results showed no difference across groups (cleft/noncleft) in maternal representations at the 2-month, 12-month, and 5-year assessments. In the cleft group, significant differences were shown between 2 and 12 months in caregiving sensitivity, perceived infant difficulty, fear for the infant’s safety, and parental pride, all factors being higher at 12 months. Those differences in parental representations over time were not found in the noncleft group. Additionally, mothers of the cleft group were significantly more authoritarian than mothers of children without a cleft. Conclusion: The absence of differences across cleft and noncleft groups suggests that having a child with a cleft does not affect maternal representations and emotions between 2 months and 5 years of the child’s age. However, parenting style seems to be influenced by the presence of a cleft in the present sample.

The Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC) – the initial validation of a new procedure for assessing and understanding the parent-child relationships of “at risk” families

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the initial validation of a new method, called the “Meaning of the Child Interview” (MotC), to assess the psychological meaning all children have for their parents, but which in cases of risk, submerge or distort the child’s identity. The MotC analyses parental discourse using a method developed from the discourse analysis used to classify the Adult Attachment Interview together with patterns derived from the infant CARE-Index, a procedure that evaluates face-to-face parent-child interaction. This allows the MotC to illuminate how the parent’s thinking influences the developing relationship between parent and child. Design/methodology/approach Parents are interviewed using the Parent Development Interview (PDI), or an equivalent, and then the interview transcript is classified using the MotC system. The coding method was developed from interviews drawn from the first author’s work with children and families in the family court system, and then tested with a sample of 85 mothers and fathers, 62 of whom were parents drawn from an “at risk” context. The parents were also videoed in a short free play interaction, using the CARE-Index. Findings The study found a strong correspondence between the levels of risk as assessed by the MotC patterns of parental representation of care giving, the risk to the parent-child relationship observed using the CARE-Index. There was also corroboration of the patterns of interaction identified by the MotC. Originality/value The results of the study provide good evidence for the Meaning of the Child as an identifiable construct, and as an assessment tool to identify and assess the nature of “at risk” parent-child relationships. MotC was developed in a clinical setting within the Family Court justice system, and is designed to offer assistance to child protection and mental health practitioners deciding how to intervene in particular parent-child relationships.

The Meaning of the Child Interview: A new procedure for assessing and understanding parent–child relationships of ‘at-risk’ families

Reder and Duncan’s well-known studies of the 1990s on fatal child abuse drew attention to how parental scripts regarding their children could dangerously distort relationships in ways that were sometimes fatal to children. This article reports on a new system for assessing the ‘meaning of the child to the parent’, called the Meaning of the Child Interview (MotC). Parents are interviewed using the established Parent Development Interview, or equivalent, and the transcript of the interview is then analysed according to parental sensitivity and likely risk to the child. The MotC constructs were developed from those used in observed parent–child interaction (specifically, the CARE-Index) and the form of discourse analysis used in the Dynamic Maturational Model – Adult Attachment Interview, allowing a more systemic and inter-subjective understanding of parenting representations than often put forward. This article discusses the theoretical background to the MotC, gives a brief review of similar measures and then introduces the coding system and patterns of caregiving. The validity of the MotC is addressed elsewhere.