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Executive Functioning Predicts Reflective Functioning in Mothers

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Abstract

Parental reflective functioning (PRF) describes a parent’s capacity for considering both their own and their child’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, which can help parents to guide interactions with children. Given the cognitive demands of keeping infants in mind whilst caregiving, we examined the association between aspects of executive function (i.e., working memory and set-shifting) and PRF (employing the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire) in recent mothers. In Study 1 (N = 50), we found that better working memory was associated with higher levels of maternal interest and curiosity in their child’s feelings. In Study 2 (N = 68), we found that visual working memory and set-shifting capacity were also associated with higher levels of maternal interest and curiosity in their child’s thoughts and feelings. Our results provide preliminary support for the association between executive processes and maternal reflective functioning. The implications of these findings and important future directions are discussed, including advancing our understanding of executive processes and PRF to support the broader family system.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Anna Freud Centre and NICHD R21 HD072574-01. We thank Cortney Booth, Jeanette Robb, Sabrina Malak, and Aliya Roginiel for assistance with data collection and Marion Mayes for data entry of the self-report measures.

Author Contributions

H.J.V.R. and S.P.B. collaborated in the writing and editing of the final manuscript. H.J.V.R., M.J.C., J.B., D.J.M., and L.C.M. collaborated with the design, data analysis, and execution of the studies. All authors contributed and approved the final manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Yale Child Study Center, Yale University, 230 South Frontage Road, New Haven, CT, 06520, USA

    Helena J. V. Rutherford, Simon P. Byrne, Michael J. Crowley, Jonathan Bornstein & Linda C. Mayes

  2. Department of Psychology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, 60115, USA

    David J. Bridgett

Authors
  1. Helena J. V. Rutherford
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  2. Simon P. Byrne
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  3. Michael J. Crowley
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  4. Jonathan Bornstein
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  5. David J. Bridgett
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  6. Linda C. Mayes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helena J. V. Rutherford.

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The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

The Human Investigations Committee at Yale School of Medicine, in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975/1983), approved all procedures prior to recruitment. This work was completed in compliance with APA ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants.

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Rutherford, H.J., Byrne, S.P., Crowley, M.J. et al. Executive Functioning Predicts Reflective Functioning in Mothers. J Child Fam Stud 27, 944–952 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0928-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0928-9

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