Francesca De Palo

Parenting quality in drug-addicted mothers in a therapeutic mother–child community: the contribution of attachment and personality assessment

Growing evidence shows that attachment is a key risk factor for the diagnosis and treatment of clinical diseases in Axis I, such as drug addiction. Recent literature regarding attachment, psychiatric pathology, and drug addiction demonstrates that there is a clear prevalence of insecure attachment patterns in clinical and drug addicted subjects. Specifically, some authors emphasize that the anxious-insecure attachment pattern is prevalent among drug-addicted women with double diagnosis (Fonagy et al., 1996). The construct of attachment as a risk factor in clinical samples of drug-addicted mothers needs to be studied more in depth though. The present explorative study focused on the evaluation of parenting quality in a therapeutic mother–child community using attachment and personality assessment tools able to outline drug-addicted mothers’ profiles. This study involved 30 drug addicted mothers, inpatients of a therapeutic community (TC). Attachment representations were assessed via the Adult Attachment Interview; personality diagnosis and symptomatic profiles were performed using the Structured Clinical Interview of the DSM-IV (SCID-II) and the Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R), respectively. Both instruments were administered during the first six months of residence in a TC. Results confirmed the prevalence of insecure attachment representations (90%), with a high presence of U patterns, prevalently scored for dangerous and/or not protective experiences in infanthood. Very high values (>5) were found for some experience scales (i.e., neglect and rejection scales). Data also showed very low values (1–3) in metacognitive monitoring, coherence of transcript and coherence of mind scales. Patients’ different profiles (U vs. E vs. Ds) were linked to SCID-II diagnosis, providing insightful indications both for treatment planning and intervention on parenting functions and for deciding if to start foster care or adoption proceedings for children.

Parental brain: cerebral areas activated by infant cries and faces. A comparison between different populations of parents and not.

Literature about parenting traditionally focused on caring behaviors and parental representations. Nowadays, an innovative line of research, interested in evaluating the neural areas and hormones implicated in the nurturing and caregiving responses, has developed. The only way to permit a newborn to survive and grow up is to respond to his needs and in order to succeed it is necessary, first of all, that the adults around him understand what his needs are. That is why adults’ capacity of taking care of infants cannot disregard from some biological mechanisms, which allow them to be more responsive to the progeny and to infants in general. Many researches have proved that exist specific neural basis activating in response to infant evolutionary stimuli, such as infant cries and infant emotional facial expression. There is a sort of innate predisposition in human adults to respond to infants’ signals, in order to satisfy their need and allow them to survive and become young adults capable of taking care of themselves. This article focuses on research that has investigated, in the last decade, the neural circuits underlying parental behavioral responses. Moreover, the paper compares the results of those studies that investigated the neural responses to infant stimuli under different conditions: familiar versus unknown children, parents versus non-parents and normative versus clinical samples (depression, addiction, adolescence, and PTSD).

Coparenting interactions observed by the prenatal lausanne trilogue play: An Italian replication study

The infant-parent interaction is the focus of interest on early interactive relational models in the triadic perspective. This approach considers the mother-father-child interaction as the matrix of early competences, which start to develop well before delivery. This theoretical approach has generated an observation paradigm, the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP; E. Fivaz-Depeursinge & A. Corboz-Warnery, 1999). The aim of the study was to investigate (a) the psychometric characteristics of coding of the prenatal LTP procedure and their comparison with the Lausanne validation studies and (b) the characteristics of triadic interactions during pregnancy. Ninety-eight nonreferred, primiparous families were recruited at childbirth courses. In addition to validated questionnaires, observational data were collected at the seventh month of pregnancy in the prenatal LTP. The collected data show good reliability of the LTP coding and a consistent factorial structure in line with the Lausanne validation studies (C. Carneiro, A. Corboz-Warnery, & E. Fivaz-Depeursinge, 2006; N. Favez et al., 2006). The Structure of the Play and the Intuitive Parenting Behaviors Scales seem the most representative dimensions in the prenatal period. Coparental abilities during pregnancy represent an interactive matrix for the construction of early family relations and may be considered as protective factors in the childs development of early triadic interactive abilities.

Intimate partner violence and drug-addicted women: from explicative models to gender-oriented treatments

Thanks to studies conducted over the past decades, it has been underlined how harmful consumption of alcohol or other substances and intimate partner violence are intertwined. What has been recognized is, in particular, how the relation between these two factors may be represented as a vicious cycle in which each of them influences the other, reciprocally. The aim of this paper is to offer an overview, firstly, about the global and European scenario of the spread of these constructs, delineating, then, the main explanation models that theorize their connection and those risk factors associated with the environmental settings which may play a significant role. The last part, finally, offers some starting points in order to provide efficient multidisciplinary approaches both to prevent and support victims, increasing their mental, physical, and emotional health.

The Role of Father Involvement and Marital Satisfaction in the Development of Family Interactive Abilities: A Multilevel Approach.

The study aims to investigate the development of family interactions from pregnancy to preschool age in a longitudinal perspective, using multilevel analysis. Also, it explored the impact of couple relationship and father involvement in childcare on the developmental trend of the quality of mother–father–child interactions. One hundred and three primiparous families were assessed at 7th month of pregnancy, 4th, 9th, and 18th months of child’s life and during preschool age (36–48th), using the observational procedure named, Lausanne Trilogue Play. Parents’ perception of marital satisfaction was assessed with the Dyadic Adjustment Scale at each point of measure; moreover, in the postnatal assessment, parents completed the Father Involvement Questionnaire. Results showed that family interactions increase over time. Secondly, a decrease of marital adjustment is associated with an improvement of the quality of family interactions. Moreover, father involvement predicts the quality of family interactions from the earliest stages of child’s life. In a longitudinal perspective, family interactions and marital quality show opposite developmental trends and father’s involvement represents a particularly important feature of the family.

Research and Intervention for Drug-Addicted Mothers and Their Children: New Perspectives

According to research carried out by the EMCDDA, drug-addicted women in Europe account for at least one quarter of the total European population consuming illicit substances (Emcdda, 2006a). A specific research platform entitled “Women and Drugs” was created within the context of the second European project “Democracies, Cities and Drugs.” This platform is focused on what characterizes and distinguishes female substance addiction from male substance addiction: its manifestation, its attributes, and the interventions or services which can be put into effect while devoting special attention and offering specialized care to this phenomenon. Our findings confirm that women substance users are exposed to a great number of risks such as medical, social, economic, familial and psychopathological risks requiring intervention through specific tools and aimed responses (see Brentari, Hernandez, Tripodi, 2011). The investigated factors included pregnancy, parenthood and the well-being as well as development of the child, while taking into account institutional and ethical reflections regarding this complex theme.

L’esposizione prenatale alle droghe come forma di maltrattamento. Un caso singolo dalla gravidanza ai 24 mesi di vita del bambino

I recenti studi sugli addicted babies (bambini nati con dipendenza da sostanze psicotrope in quanto figli di donne tossicodipendenti) mostrano come l’esposizione precoce alle sostanze possa essere, a tutti gli effetti, una forma di maltrattamento precoce tale da causare disarmonie sostanziali, a breve e a lungo termine, nello sviluppo dei bambini. Il presente articolo, attraverso la presentazione di un caso singolo, indaga le traiettorie di sviluppo di un bambino che e stato esposto in utero a sostanze e ad altre condizioni di rischio, residente con la madre in una comunita terapeutica per madri e bambini. Lo studio ha previsto due rilevazioni, a 12 mesi e a 24 mesi, delle competenze evolutive e affettivo- relazionali del bambino. I dati mostrano l’emergere di un profilo evolutivo disarmonico nel bambino e di manifestazioni sintomatologiche che, a distanza, sembrano specificamente connesse alla condizione di rischio bio-psico-sociale esperita prima della nascita e a fattori familiari e contestuali di vulnerabilita presenti anche successivamente.