The Infant-Father Relationship

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Infant-Father Relationship

Dawson Cooke

[email protected]

WA – AAIMH Seminar August 2014

Creswick Foundation


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Overview

•  Attachment theory & research – a co-parenting father inclusive perspective – examining application

•  Edinburgh WAIMH

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The need to work with Couples

Couples with a new baby are highly interdependent. In the UK…

•  96.4% of new parents are married, live together or live apart but say they are a couple or good friends.

•  70% of today's new mothers turn to their partner for emotional support, compared with only 47% in the 1960s.

www.fatherhoodinstitute.org


Father-Infant Relationship Compared to Mother-Infant Relationships

•  We know less •  Similar •  Different

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Ecology of the infant The centrality of the mother and father

Bronfenbrenner (1997) & Pleck (2007)

Schools

Political

Child

Care Schools Work Places

Child & Parents

Friends

Cultural EconomicLocal Community Social Env i ronment

sExtended Family


“There’s no such thing as a baby” Winnicott

“There is no such thing as a fatherless child” Kyle Pruett (1997)

How Men and Children Affect Each Other's Development – Zero to Three

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Understanding Infant Attachment Infants: Security of relationship with caregiver •  Not a characteristic of the infant

–  Generally, the mother-infant and father-infant relationship is considered to be independent

–  Many children (39%*) have insecure attachment with one parent and secure attachment with the other

•  Similar proportions of secure/insecure infant-mother and infant-father attachment classifications

•  Infant security is not only about comfort and nurture, but also support of exploration

•  Observation of parenting sensitivity alone is a poor predictor of attachment security

*van IJzendoorn & De Wolff, 1997: meta-‐analysis with 950 families


The infant-father attachment

•  Grossman’s wider view of attachment

–  Sensitive and challenging play

–  Two aspects of Psychological Security

•  Security of Attachment

•  Security of Exploration

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Security Attachment

Proximity and protection.

Exploration Sensitivity & support with exploration.

Confidence of help.

Grossmann, et al. 2002


Fathers’ Sensitive & Challenging Interactive Play

Associated with:

•  Kindergarten - Fewer behavioural problems •  Age 10, 16 & 22 attachment security •  Age 16 more active (less avoidant) coping style

less anxiousness and helplessness •  Age 22 security in partnership representations

Bielefeld Longitudinal Study - Grossmann, Grossmann, Kindler, & Zimmermann, 2008

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Other assessments of child-father interaction

•! Activation relationship – Risky Situation (Paquette)

•! Rough and tumble play (Fletcher)


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Post Separation Parenting and Overnight Care of Infants

An unfortunate natural experiment of

Father Involvement


Highlighted Issues

•  One primary parent (Monotropy)

•  Hierarchy of attachment

•  Co-parenting – complementary roles

•  Relevance of attachment for policy & guidelines

•  Measurement/assessment of attachment

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Pruett, McIntosh & Kelly FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 52 No. 2, April 2014 240–262

Key Points for the Family Court Community: •  An integrative perspective suggests that the goals of attachment and early

parental (typically paternal) involvement with very young children after separation are mutually attainable and mutually reinforcing rather than exclusive choices.

•  An optimal goal for the family is a “triadic secure base” developed through a co-parenting environment that supports the child’s secure attachment with each parent and the recognition by each parent of the other’s importance to the child.

•  Cautions against overnight care during the first three years are not supported. The limited available research substantiates some caution about higher frequency overnight schedules with young children, particularly when the child’s relationship with a second parent has not been established and/or parents are in frequent conflict to which the child is exposed.

•  Parenting orders or plans for children 0–3 years of age should foster both developmental security and the health of each parent–child relationship, now and into the future.


What Would Stop Me from Engaging with Men

•  What biases do I hold about fathers or men?

•  Do I have a limited definition of Fatherhood?

•  What structural/organisational impediments exist that limit my engagement?

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Impediments To Men Engaging or Answering Honestly

•  Not men's business

•  Not wanting to be (or appear to be) incompetent

•  Not wanting to appear disloyal


Consider…

•  Maternal hospitals •  Women’s and

children’s health •  Midwife •  Pregnancy support •  Mothering •  Postnatal… (PND)

•  Attachment •  Parent

(services, leave…) •  Family matters •  Caring for children

–  vs career –  health and well-being

•  Close relationships •  Emotional connection

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WAIMH Congress

•  1600 participants •  Over 1,000 presentations •  About 80 presentations with titles explicitly

father inclusive –  i.e. Title contained the word Father, Paternal,

Co-Parent or Triad.


Conclusions

•  The father’s role is changing and varied •  Mother and father roles can be similar and

different – and hopefully complementary •  Do we support the complementary roles of

mothers and father – and meet fathers where they are at in their parenting role?

•  Do we keep the father in mind and support the child’s developing representation of their father? i.e. keep in mind that the infant often has a mother and father in their mind.


www.familyworks.com.au

For more information on fatherhood from Dawson go to the following websites

www.familyworks.com.au/blog/category/dads

curtin.academia.edu/DawsonCooke

or email Dawson at

[email protected]

The Infant-Father Relationship

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