THE CHILD AS HELD IN THE MIND OF THE MOTHER: THE INFLUENCE OF PRENATAL MATERNAL REPRESENTATIONS ON PARENTING BEHAVIORS

摘要

Using a longitudinal design, this study examined the relationship of a mother's prenatal rep-resentation of her child and her parenting behavior with that child at 1 year of age in a sample of womenwho were either exposed or not exposed to intimate partner violence (IPV) (N = 164; M child age =1.1 years, SD = .11 years; 52% male). Controlling for prenatal IPV, a MANCOVA analysis revealed thatprenatal representational typology was significantly related to parenting behavior 1 year postpartum. Moth-ers whose representations were affectively deactivated (disengaged) were more behaviorally controllingwith their children. Mothers whose representations were affectively overactivated (distorted) were morehostile with their children. Mothers with balanced representations demonstrated more positive parenting.Exposure to IPV did not moderate this relationship. There was no direct association between prenatalor postnatal IPV and parenting behavior. These findings suggest that prenatal representations influencepostnatal parenting behavior in significant and theoretically consistent ways and that this relationship func-tions similarly for both abused and nonabused women. Results add to the growing literature that internalrepresentations serve to guide behavior throughout development and suggest that maternal working modelsmay be one important link in the intergenerational transmission of attachment relationships.