7-17-Claire-Banga-Maternal-Mindedness

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14 | Inkblot: The Undergraduate Journal of Psychology • Vol. 1 • September 2012 Aggression Aggression has long been the focus of research for developmental psychologists and their clinical counterparts because it is typically associated with poor developmental outcomes and is a precursor for the future development of various problems, not the least of which may include conduct disorder and poorer academic performance (NICHD, 2004). Given the consequences, any variable that significantly relates to aggression – either as a predictor or inhibitor – should be properly assessed. Consequently, the value of this novel empirical data indicating a reduced likelihood for aggressive coping in children with mother’s high in MMM has great potential. An initial step in the assessment of this relationship concerns a reflection on the possible mechanisms of action by which MMM could exert a subsequent influence on the child’s coping response – in other words the ‘how’ of the equation. In order to determine a possible mechanism of action for MMM, it is useful to draw on the empirical data, which denotes possible causal factors of aggressive coping. For example, Alink et al. (2010) recently found that the relationship between negative discipline and aggression is moderated by maternal sensitivity (or rather insensitivity). Perhaps the functioning of MMM is connected to maternal sensitivity. Recall that maternal sensitivity has already been empirically linked to MMM; mothers who have better representations of their child’s mental life tend to show higher sensitivity in their interactions with their child (Demers et al., 2010). In order to situate MMM within the context of an interaction that may elicit aggressive coping, consider a 2004 study by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Part of their study employed an interesting methodology to look at maternal sensitivity’s relationship to aggression. Interactions between a mother and child were observed while the child was trying to complete a puzzle. If the mother pointed out the child’s mistakes in a negative or hostile way, this was an indicator of maternal insensitivity and was a precursor of high levels of aggression in the child (NICHD, 2004). Consider how MMM might function in this situation to facilitate the efficacy of maternal sensitivity and thus reduce frustration and anger in the child. Picture Jean Piaget himself as the embodiment of paternal mind-mindedness and think of what he would do in such an interaction with one of his daughters. Drawing on the knowledge of both the child’s abilities and limitations, he would perhaps help the child to establish the border of the puzzle, orient the pieces in a helpful manner, and use appropriate mind-related comments to encourage the child. Appropriate mind-related comments are an example of characteristic behavioral manifestations of MMM’s functioning in mother-child interactions (Sharp & Fonagy, 2008). In all of the above examples, MMM seems to function as a cognitive component, which fuels the efficacy of maternal sensitivity. This increased efficacy could serve as the mechanism by which MMM actively reduces aggressive coping. Before continuing with this line of reasoning, another application of MMM’s functioning must be evaluated. Instrumental Coping This other application concerns MMM’s relationship to instrumental coping; namely that mothers who were high in MMM tended to have children who displayed more instrumental coping/problem solving behaviors. Instrumental coping was defined in this study to be an active attempt by the child to either master or control the source of stress within the proposed situation. In particular, it employs a problem solving strategy on the part of the child. Recall the above example of the puzzle-solving task. It is likely that the same functioning of MMM in facilitating maternal sensitivity could also then fuel the development of instrumental coping behaviors in children. As the mother actively helps facilitate the successful completion of the puzzle, she does so by modeling problem solving behaviors that can be learned and adopted by the child and employed in future situations (e.g. completed the border of a puzzle before
Inkblot: The Undergraduate Journal of Psychology • Vol. 1 • September 2012 | 15 the inside pieces). This line of reasoning follows from Vygotsky’s theory of a zone of proximal development, which states that a child’s potential problem solving capacity is increased under the guidance of an adult (Vygotsky, 1978). It is not surprising that the MMM construct was first conceptualized within the Vygotskian framework, from a cognitive developmental point-of-view (Meins, 1997; Sharp & Fonagy, 2008). To summarize, there are two mechanisms by which MMM may exert an influence on reducing aggressive coping: 1) by increasing the efficacy of the functioning of maternal sensitivity in mother-child interactions by behaviors such as appropriate mentalcomments; and 2) by furthering the child’s problem solving capacity as evidenced by the instrumental coping results. These two processes could combine as component processes which attempt to explain high MMM’s negative relationship to aggressive coping. The proposed structure of this mechanism of action is visually summarized in Figure 1. Note that yet another process, which must be considered within the context of the mother-child interaction, is the child’s own mentalizing capacity (see Sharp & Fonagy, 2008 for discussion). This, however, extends beyond the empirical reach of the present study and so it must be addressed in future research. Conclusion This study has attempted to broadly assess the relationship between maternal mind-mindedness and various child coping strategies. I obtained encouraging results supporting the hypothesis that there is a relationship between MMM and child coping. It is the task of future research efforts to clarify the nature of this relationship. As I see it, the most important finding was the negative relationship between MMM and aggression. Based on the above discussion, a model describing the nature of this process was proposed (Figure 1.). It is within this vein, that the everexpanding reach of the maternal mind-mindedness construct can be extended. FIGURE 1: <strong>Maternal</strong> mind-mindedness’ mechanism of action on aggressive coping study References Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1973). The development of infant–mother attachment. In B. M. Caldwell & H. N.Ricciuti (Eds.), Review of child development research (Vol. 3, pp. 1–94). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Ainsworth, M. D. S., Bell, S. M., & Stayton, D. J. (1974). Infant–mother attachment and social development: Socialization as a product of re- ciprocal responsivenessto signals. In M. P. M. Richards (Ed.), The introduction of the child into a social world. London: Cambridge Uni -versity Press. Ainsworth, M., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of Attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. Alink, L.R.A., Mesman, J., van Zeijil, J., Stolk, M.N., Juffer, F., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J., van IJzendoorn, M.H., & Koot, H.M. (2008). <strong>Maternal</strong> sensitivity moderates the relation between negative discipline and aggression in early childhood.Social Development, 18, 99-120. Bowlby, J. (1982/1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment (2nd ed.). New York: Basic Books. Compas, B.E., Connor-Smith, J.K., Saltzman, H., Thomsen, A. H., & Wadsworth, M. E. (2001). Coping with stress during childhood and
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