Browsing by Author "Katz, Danielle"

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    Intergenerational transmission of maternal prenatal anxiety to infant fearfulness: the mediating role of mother-infant bonding
    (Archives of Women's Mental Health, 2024-06-11) Rousseau, Sofie; Katz, Danielle; Schussheim, Avital; Frenkel, Tahl I.
    Purpose This study is the first to directly investigate the mechanistic role of maternal bonding toward her infant in the early intergenerational pathway of risk from maternal anxiety to infant fearfulness. Methods Mothers (N = 216; Mage=32.78) reported on their anxiety and bonding at four time-points between pregnancy and ten-months postpartum. At four and ten-months postpartum, infant temperamental precursors of anxiety were assessed through maternal report and observation. Results Cross-lagged longitudinal path modeling indicated a significant link between prenatal maternal anxiety and infant temperamental fearful withdrawal at 10-months postpartum (R2 = 0.117), which was fully explained by decreased maternal bonding at one-month postpartum and increased infant temperamental negative reactivity at 4-months postpartum. Conclusion Results support the need to foster maternal bonding in preventive perinatal care, particularly in the context of maternal anxiety.
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    Psychometric properties of the Video Vignettes Sensitive Parenting Assessment for parents of infants
    (University of Delaware, 2022) Katz, Danielle
    Sensitive parenting, involving prompt and appropriate responses to infant cues, is critical to children’s development. The two components of sensitive parenting, sensitivity to infant cues of non-distress and nurturance in response to infant cues of distress, have been widely researched over the last several decades and are often the target of parenting interventions. Despite their popularity in research and clinical domains, measurement of sensitivity and nurturance typically involves behavioral coding of recorded parent-infant interactions, which requires time, training, and expertise. To address this issue, we developed the Video Vignettes Sensitive Parenting Assessments – Infant (VVSPA-I), a brief, vignettes-based measure meant to measure sensitivity and nurturance efficiently. In the current study, we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity of the VVSPA-I. We hypothesized that a two-factor model would be the best fit, that the two scales would demonstrate good internal consistency, and that the sensitivity and nurturance scores would be correlated with observed sensitivity, intrusiveness, and nurturance. Indeed, a two-factor solution emerged superior to a one-factor solution and the sensitivity scale scores correlated with observed sensitivity and intrusiveness, while the nurturance scale scores correlated with observed nurturance. However, the measure did not demonstrate good internal consistency and some factor loadings were too small or too large. In addition, further examination of response patterns on individual items revealed high variability in responses across items (i.e., some questions were too easy, some were too difficult). We concluded that the VVSPA-I is not yet psychometrically sound and that there are several changes to be made to the item before it may be used with confidence.