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- The role of child, maternal and household factors in the reported use of physical punishment practices by Portuguese mothersPublication . Rancheiro, Telma; Guedes, Maryse; Verissimo, ManuelaAbstract: Physical punishment is the use of physical force to cause to body pain or discomfort, to correct children’s misbehaviour (Gershoff, 2008) and negatively impacts children’s development (Gershoff, 2002). To overcome limitations in the current state-of-art knowledge in Portugal, this study aimed to describe the maternal reports about the use of different physical punishment practices in the last year and to analyse the predictive role of child, maternal and household characteristics in the use of different physical punishment practices in the last year. A total of 289 Portuguese mothers of children aged 5 to 14 years completed the Escala de Crenças sobre a Punição Física (Machado et al., 2003) and the Inventário de Práticas Educativas Parentais (Machado et al., 2015). According to results, spanking child at the buttocks with the hand and slapping child’s hand, arm, or leg were the most reported punishment practices. Maternal tolerance toward physical punishment was the strongest and most consistent predictor of spanking child at the buttocks with the hand and slapping child’s hand, arm, or leg during the last year. Future cross-cultural studies may continue to explore the most used physical punishment practices and the characteristics that predict their use.
- Uma análise exploratória das relações entre as representações de vinculação do pai e o seu envolvimento em atividades práticas e lúdicasPublication . Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Maia, Rita; Fernandes, Carla; Fernandes, Marília; Antunes, Marta; Verissimo, ManuelaResumo: Este estudo teve como principal objetivo explorar as relações entre as representações de vinculação (script de base segura) do pai, e o seu envolvimento em atividades práticas (relacionadas com a gestão e cuidados à criança) e em atividades com características lúdicas (brincadeira/lazer). Participaram 62 famílias nucleares, com crianças entre os 2 e os 5 anos, de estatuto socioeconómico médio e de duplo-rendimento. De modo a analisar os scripts de base segura utilizou-se as Narrativas de Representação da Vinculação em Adultos, aplicadas individualmente ao pai, tendo a mãe e o pai preenchido, de modo independente, um questionário sobre o envolvimento parental. Os resultados indicam que os pais possuem e acedem ao script de base segura em contextos onde este é elicitado; que participam mais nas atividades lúdicas, do que nas práticas; e que pais com valores mais elevados de script adulto/criança se encontram mais envolvidos nas atividades práticas, mesmo quando a idade da criança e as habilitações do pai são controladas.
- Examining the Factorial Structure of the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale in a Portuguese SamplePublication . Guedes, Maryse; Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Santos, António J.; Torres, Nuno; Verissimo, ManuelaThe increase in women's labor market participation emphasizes the importance of understanding maternal separation anxiety, that is, the unpleasant maternal emotional state, due to the actual or anticipated short-term separation from the child. Drawing on the insights of the attachment and psychoanalytic perspectives, the Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale (MSAS) was developed to overcome existing measurement gaps. However, prior research did not replicate its original three-factor structure in the contemporary context and in other cultural settings, using large samples composed of mothers of preschool children. This study aimed to examine the factorial structure of the MSAS in a sample of 597 Portuguese mothers of children aged 5-84 months who completed the questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) conducted in subsample 1 revealed a four-factor structure: Maternal Negative Feelings, Beliefs about Exclusive Maternal Care, Need of Proximity, and Perceptions of Separation Benefits for Children. Confirmatory factor analyses conducted in subsample 2 revealed that the original three-factor structure revealed a poor fit, whereas the four-factor solution (obtained in the EFA) revealed an acceptable fit. As in previous studies, our findings report deviations from the original three-factor structure of the MSAS. Three of the newly identified factors seem to reflect specific sub-dimensions that originally guided item development in the MSAS, namely, maternal negative feelings, maternal attitudes about the value of exclusive maternal care, and the need of proximity with the child. The last factor appears to represent a refinement of original items pertaining to perceptions about separation effects for children.
- Ansiedade de separação materna e adaptação psicossocial ao pré-escolarPublication . Verissimo, Manuela; Alves, Sara; Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Oliveira, Carla S. V. Teixeira deDiversos estudos parecem indicar a ansiedade de separação materna como um importante factor que influencia a adaptação psicossocial da criança e consequentemente o seu desenvolvimento social. No presente estudo pretendemos analisar e compreender a relação entre a ansiedade de separação materna e a qualidade da adaptação psicossocial de crianças em idade pré-escolar. Os participantes foram 168 crianças com idades compreendidas entre os 3 e os 4 anos e as suas respectivas mães. A Escala de Ansiedade Materna foi administrada às mães, permitindo identificar os sentimentos e atitudes maternas face à separação. As educadoras de infância preencheram o questionário Adaptação Psicossocial da Criança com vista à obtenção de dados relativos à qualidade da adaptação psicossocial das crianças. Os resultados indicam que a ansiedade de separação materna influencia a qualidade da adaptação psicossocial da criança. Assim, as crianças cujas mães foram identificadas como possuindo uma elevada ansiedade de separação mobilizaram mais comportamentos reveladores de uma baixa competência social. Esperamos com este estudo ter podido contribuir para uma melhor compreensão da relação entre a ansiedade de separação materna e a adaptação psicossocial da criança, bem como alertar para a importância da implementação de estratégias preventivas cada vez mais precoces e eficazes. ------ ABSTRACT ------ Several studies seem to indicate maternal separation anxiety as an important factor that influences the child psychosocial adaptation and consequently child social development. The purpose of the present study is to understand and analyse the relationship between the maternal separation anxiety and the quality of preschooler's psychosocial adaptation. This study included 168 children with ages between 3 and 4 years old. The Maternal Separation Anxiety Scale was administered to their mothers, allowing to identify the maternal feelings and attitudes concerning separation. Teachers filled out the Preschoolers Psychosocial Adaptation questionnaire in order to obtain information related to children psychosocial adaptation. The results indicated that maternal separation anxiety influences the quality of child psychosocial adaptation. Mothers with high maternal separation anxiety have children that used behaviors that reveled a low social competence.
- Scripted knowledge about attachment and social competence in preschoolers: overviewPublication . Vaughn, Brian E.; Posada, German; Verissimo, ManuelaThe papers in this special issue of Attachment & Human Development address questions concerning relations between attachment representations and social competence during early childhood in samples from five different countries. All studies examined these questions using the concept of the "secure base script" that has been widely studied in samples of adults, adolescents, and school-age children. In all samples, the secure base script was scored from attachment-relevant narratives elicited from children in a doll-play task. Consistent with existing literatures, the secure base script score had positive and significant associations with adult ratings of child social competence, even in the presence of potential confounding covariates.
- Perceptions of Portuguese psychologists about the acceptability of a child intervention targeted at inhibited preschoolers ISPAPublication . Guedes, Maryse; Nojosa, Stephanie Alves; Santos, António; Veríssimo, Manuela; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Danko, Christina; Rubin, KennethAbstract: High and stable behavioral inhibition (BI) during early childhood have been associated with an increased risk of later anxiety disorders and peer difficulties. Developing evidence-based early interventions to prevent these unhealthy developmental trajectories has become a major focus of interest. However, these interventions are not yet available in Europe. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of Portuguese psychologists about the acceptability of the child component of the Turtle Program, before its dissemination in Portugal. Eighteen psychologists were distributed into three focus groups. Each group was moderated by a trained psychologist, using a semi-structured interview guide. The thematic analysis revealed that Portuguese psychologists acknowledged that the intervention needs to go beyond social skills training and enhance children’s positive self-perceptions. Overall, psychologists perceived the structure, contents, activities, and materials of the intervention to be acceptable. However, participants recommended minor modifications to strengthen the connection with naturalistic contexts, broaden the focus on emotional expressiveness and social interaction, and introduce creative activities and materials. These findings are consistent with previous research with LatinX practitioners, who typically agree with the acceptability of evidence-based child intervention principles and only report the need to introduce minor changes related to the way how interventions are delivered to children.
- Measurement invariance across mother/child and father/child attachment relationshipsPublication . Fernandes, M.; Veríssimo, Manuela; Santos, António J.; Ribeiro, Olívia; Vaughn, Brian; Gastelle, Marissa; Kerns, Kathryn A.We examine the factorial structure of the Security Scale Questionnaire (SSQ), exploring measurement invariance across mother-father-child attachment relationships, child sex, and country. We used the new 21-item SSQ version that integrates both safe haven and secure base behaviors in a two factors structure. Participants were 457 children (224 girls and 233 boys), ranging from 9 to 14 years old (M = 10.84, SD = 1.02) from Portuguese and USA samples. We confirmed the SSQ's two-factor structure, although four items were unrelated to the latent structure and excluded from the final model. Results showed that SSQ can be used to study both mother/child and father/child attachment relationships. Multi-group analyses suggested measurement invariance between boys and girls and between Portuguese and USA samples. Our findings suggest that the SSQ can be considered a valid and cost-effective tool to measure perceived attachment security in middle childhood for both mother/child and father/child relationships.
- Father involvement during early childhood: a systematic review of the literaturePublication . Diniz, Eva; Brandão, Tânia; Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Verissimo, ManuelaInexistente
- Attachment goes to court: child protection and custody issuesPublication . Forslund, Tommie; Granqvist, Pehr; Van IJzendoorn, Marinus; Sagi-Schwartz, Avi; Glaser, Danya; Steele, Miriam; Hammarlund, Mårten; Schuengel, Carlo; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Marian J.; Steele, Howard; Shaver, Phillip R.; Lux, Ulrike; Simmonds, John; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Groh, Ashley; Bernard, Kristin; Cyr, Chantal; Hazen, Nancy; Foster, Sarah; Psouni, Elia; Cowan, Philip A.; Pape Cowan, Carolyn; Rifkin-Graboi, Anne; Wilkins, David; Pierrehumbert, Blaise; Tarabulsy, George M.; Cárcamo, Rodrigo; Wang, Zhengyan; Liang, Xi; Kazmierczak, Maria; Pawlicka, Paulina; Ayiro, Lilian; Kabali, Tamara Chansa; Sichimba, Francis; Mooya, Haatembo; McLean, Loyola; Veríssimo, Manuela; Gojman-de-Millán, Sonia; Moretti, Marlene M.; Bacro, Fabien; Peltola, Mikko; Galbally, Megan; Kondo-Ikemura, Kiyomi; Behrens, Kazuko Y.; Scott, Stephen; Fresno, Andrés; Spencer, Rosario; Posada, Germán; Cassibba, Rosalinda; Barrantes-Vidal, Neus; Palacios, Jesús; BARONE, LAVINIA; Madigan, Sheri; Jones-Mason, Karen; Reijman, Sophie; Juffer, Femmie; Pasco Fearon, R.; Bernier, Annie; Cicchetti, Dante; Reijman, Sophie; Cassidy, Jude; Kindler, Heinz; Zimmermann, Peter; Feldman, Ruth; Spangler, Gottfried; Zeanah, Charles; Dozier, Mary; Belsky, Jay; Lamb, Jason; Duschinsky, RobbieAttachment theory and research are drawn upon in many applied settings, including family courts, but misunderstandings are widespread and sometimes result in misapplications. The aim of this consensus statement is, therefore, to enhance understanding, counter misinformation, and steer family-court utilisation of attachment theory in a supportive, evidence-based direction, especially with regard to child protection and child custody decision-making. The article is divided into two parts. In the first, we address problems related to the use of attachment theory and research in family courts, and discuss reasons for these problems. To this end, we examine family court applications of attachment theory in the current context of the best-interest-of-the-child standard, discuss misunderstandings regarding attachment theory, and identify factors that have hindered accurate implementation. In the second part, we provide recommendations for the application of attachment theory and research. To this end, we set out three attachment principles: the child’s need for familiar, non-abusive caregivers; the value of continuity of good-enough care; and the benefits of networks of attachment relationships. We also discuss the suitability of assessments of attachment quality and caregiving behaviour to inform family court decision-making. We conclude that assessments of caregiver behaviour should take center stage. Although there is dissensus among us regarding the use of assessments o attachment quality to inform child custody and child-protection decisions, such assessments are currently most suitable for targeting and directing supportive interventions. Finally, we provide directions to guide future interdisciplinary research collaboration.
- Parenting and child well-being during the COVID-19 outbreak : the importance of marital adjustment and parental self-efficacyPublication . Diniz, Eva; Brandão, Tânia; Monteiro, Lígia Maria Santos; Verissimo, ManuelaAbstract: The pandemic situation of COVID-19 has introduced new challenges on family routines, affecting interpersonal relationships, which may have detrimental consequences to child well-being. The current study aimed to examine the direct effects of marital adjustment on child socioemotional adjustment and to test if parental self-efficacy mediated this association during home confinement due to COVID-19. A final sample of 163 caregivers was recruited online during home confinement period. On average children were 6 years-old (SD=2.92; 44.8% girls). Caregivers and their child were in home confinement for an average of 31 days (SD=12.08). Most of the couples had been married or living together for an average of 14 years (SD=5.77) and had a university degree, mostly living in metropolitan areas. Caregivers answer to a set of measures assessing marital adjustment, parental selfefficacy, and child socioemotional competence and behavior. Findings depicted a direct effect on the positive association between marital satisfaction and parental self-efficacy, and negatively associated with anger-aggression. Parental self-efficacy was positively associated with child's: social competence, negatively associated with anger-aggression, and anxiety-withdrawal. Indirect effects depicted that marital satisfaction was associated with child's social competence, anger-aggression and anxietywithdrawal through parental self-efficacy. Thus, higher marital satisfaction was associated with more parental self-efficacy which in turn was associated with more child's social competence. Findings are relevant to the current state of the art, given the lack of information regarding imposed isolation due to COVID-19 and the consequences it may have to child's well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR