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Influence of maternal reflective functioning on mothers’ and children's weight: A follow‐up study
Author(s) -
Campora Gaia,
Giromini Luciano,
Guerriero Viviana,
Chiodo Carina,
Zavattini Giulio Cesare,
Larciprete Giovanni
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.21819
Subject(s) - body mass index , pregnancy , attachment measures , mentalization , psychology , developmental psychology , obesity , medicine , analysis of variance , maternal sensitivity , scale (ratio) , clinical psychology , attachment theory , endocrinology , genetics , physics , quantum mechanics , biology
Based on cross‐sectional research linking poor reflective functionining (RF) to eating disorders, the current follow‐up study tested whether maternal RF would explain the variance of mothers’ and children's weight beyond the effects of maternal emotional dysregulation. During pregnancy (Time 1 [T1]), 51 women were administered the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and interviewed using the Adult Attachment Interview (AAI). Seven months after delivery (Time 2 [T2]), mother–baby dyads who remained in the study ( n = 44) were videotaped (Feeding Scale) during their feeding interaction. Last (Time 3 [T3]), the weight of the 34 children who were still in the study was collected at 3 years of age. Maternal AAI‐RF at T1 did not correlate with the DERS at T1 nor with the quality of the feeding interacions at T2. However, it correlated, significantly, with maternal body mass index (BMI) at T1, r = −.298, P = .034, and marginally significantly with baby's BMI at T3, r = −.296, P = .089. Moreover, multiple regression models showed a trend indicating that maternal AAI‐RF might explain the variance of mothers’ and children's weight beyond the effects of maternal emotional dysregulation. These findings suggest that working on maternal mentalization might contribute to helping prevent childhood obesity from pregnancy.