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Mothers' thoughts about their children: Links between mind‐mindedness and emotional availability
Author(s) -
Lok Sarah Mary,
McMahon Catherine Anne
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
british journal of developmental psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.062
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 2044-835X
pISSN - 0261-510X
DOI - 10.1348/026151005x49854
Subject(s) - intrusiveness , hostility , psychology , dyad , maternal sensitivity , developmental psychology , emotional development , relation (database) , social psychology , social change , economics , economic growth , database , computer science
Maternal mind‐mindedness (MM) and emotional availability (EA) were examined in 89 middle‐class mothers and their 4‐year‐old children. Each mother‐child dyad was videotaped in their home during a 20‐minute play interaction and aspects of EA (sensitivity, structuring, intrusiveness, and hostility) were assessed using the EA scales (Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998). Meins, Fernyhough, Russell, and Clark‐Carter's (1998) maternal interview was used to measure MM and the proportion of mental comments was calculated. Mothers who used a higher proportion of mental comments tended to demonstrate less hostility during interaction with their child. The findings are discussed in relation to the need to consider other interactional variables, in addition to maternal sensitivity, when examining how parental representations are transmitted to children.