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La teoría y la investigación sobre el apego se utilizan en muchos contextos aplicados, incluidos los juzgados de familia, pero hay malentendidos muy extendidos y que a veces dan lugar a aplicaciones erróneas. El objetivo de este documento de consenso es, por lo tanto, mejorar la comprensión, contrarrestar la desinformación y dirigir el uso de la teoría del apego por parte de los juzgados de familia en la dirección de un apoyo basado en la evidencia, especialmente en lo que respecta a la protección de niñas y niños y las decisiones sobre su custodia. El artículo se divide en dos partes. En la primera abordamos los problemas relacionados con el uso de la teoría y la investigación sobre apego en los juzgados de familia, analizando las causas de tales problemas. Para ello examinamos las aplicaciones de la teoría del apego en los juzgados de familia en el marco del concepto de interés superior de niños y niñas, analizamos los malentendidos relacionados con la teoría del apego e identificamos los factores que han obstaculizado su adecuada aplicación. En la segunda parte ofrecemos recomendaciones para la aplicación de la teoría y la investigación sobre apego. Para ello establecemos tres principios del apego: la necesidad de niñas y niños de cuidadoras y cuidadores habituales que no maltraten, el valor de la continuidad de cuidados de calidad suficientemente buena y los beneficios de las redes de relaciones de apego. También analizamos la idoneidad de las evaluaciones de los estilos de apego y del comportamiento de los cuidadores para fundamentar la toma de decisiones de los juzgados de familia. Llegamos a la conclusión de que las evaluaciones de quienes cuidan deberían ocupar un lugar central. Aunque no hay consenso entre nosotros sobre el uso de las evaluaciones del estilo de apego para fundamentar las decisiones sobre custodia y protección infantil, dichas evaluaciones son actualmente las más adecuadas para orientar y dirigir las intervenciones de apoyo. Por último, proporcionamos orientaciones para guiar la futura colaboración en la investigación interdisciplinaria.

INTRODUCTION: Introduction. The pandemic SARS-Cov-2 outbreak necessitated the implementation of changes in everyday obstetric attendance, which demands continuity of care. Employment of sudden changes in obstetric attendance could have increased anxiety among medical personnel. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the Communication was to analyse the influence of professional experience on the level of anxiety in a group of midwives during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The analysis included 100 midwives: average professional experience: 11.51 years (max. 36; median 7,5; SD: 10.37; p

Child’s crying is the stimuli serving the development of a child–parent relationship through evoking child-oriented and parent-oriented parental reactions. Individual differences in parental reacti...

The study aimed to identify the difference in communication needs of women giving birth and women during early postpartum. An additional goal includes the analysis of the experience and communication needs through the context of a woman’s approach to childbirth. The study is a cross-sectional, self-report survey, 521 women between 5 and 10 days after birth participated in the study. Women perceived information provided by the medical staff as the most helpful aspect of verbal communication both during labour and early postpartum. Maintaining eye contact with the medical staff was perceived as the most helpful aspect of non-verbal communication. Women were more satisfied with communication during labour and birth than in the maternity ward and those after non-instrumental childbirth were more satisfied with communication compared to the instrumental birth group. Women perceiving childbirth as the natural, physiological process considered verbal and non-verbal communication during and after childbirth as less helpful than women perceiving birth as more risky and requiring interventions. The results of the study emphasize the importance of verbal and non-verbal communication during birth and early postpartum and at the same time different communication needs during these two time points. It also showed that women who perceive labour as a physiological process seem to be less dependent on the communication with the medical staff than women who accept medical interventions during labour and birth as necessary.

Oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) hormones as well as their receptors (OXTR and AVPR1a) have been deemed crucial for caregiving and sensitive responsiveness to infant cues. However, previous research on genetic polymorphisms and OT and AVP levels in the context of caregiving were sparse and have brought contradictory findings. The aim of this reported observational study was to examine the impact of genetic variations within genes related to OT and AVP signaling pathway on hormones levels’ changes in response to the caregiving situation. A total of 221 adult intimate couples (110 childless, non-pregnant and 111 expectant couples) participated in three 10 min sessions, during which they were taking care of a crying life-like simulator. 30 min prior to the first session salivary samples to analyze basal OT and AVP, and polymorphisms in OXTR, AVPR1a and CD38 genes were collected. Subsequent OT and AVP levels were measured 15 min after each session. The two most frequently studied OXTR SNPs (rs53576 and rs2254298) had no or a minor impact on higher OT levels, which were linked to rs1042778, rs13316193, rs2228485, rs2268490, rs4686302 genotypes. AVP levels were affected by rs1042778, rs13316193, rs4686302 and rs237887. OT levels varied depending on the OT (rs2770378, rs4813625), CD38 (rs379686), and 5-HTR2A (rs6314) genotype. OT and AVP levels were also associated with rs6314 (5-HTR2A). AVP levels were linked to ESR1 (rs1884051) and SIM1 (rs3734354) variations. Shorter variants of RS3 and RS1 were associated with lower levels of AVP. In conclusion, analyzed polymorphisms were associated with both the level and changes in OT and AVP hormone levels in the standardized situation of caregiving reactions to infant crying.

UNSTRUCTURED Background: Sensitive responsiveness refers to parents’ ability to recognize and respond to infants’ cues and is one of the central aspects of early parenting. Sensitivity to infant cry supports child’s survival and is the most apparent early attachment behavior. Sensitive responsiveness to child’s needs has been linked to parental empathy. Additionally, oxytocin (OT) and vasopressin (AVP) are hormones important for sensitivity and empathy. Research on parental responsiveness indicates focus on mothers, and studies on parents-to-be are lacking. The aim of the HEART study is to test the direct and indirect (through OT and AVP levels) links between dispositional empathy and responsiveness to a life-like doll crying in couples and to verify whether these factors are predictors of responsiveness to own ’child’s cues. Exploratory analyses include predictors of sensitive responsiveness: polymorphisms of OXTR, AVPR1a and CD38 genes, personal characteristics (attachment style, temperament) and relational factors (perception of partners and own parents). Methods: The HEART project employs standardized experimental settings that can be used with nonparents and – the assessment of parental sensitive responsiveness towards their child. The participants are couples becoming parents for the first time (111) and childless couples (110) in Poland. The procedure involves the caretaking of a life-like doll (three 10-min episodes: each partner individually and a couple), which cries as programmed during the interaction. Salivary samples and questionnaire data are collected in a planned manner. In the second part of the project’, the expectant couples are invited for the assessment of the parental sensitivity to own child (free play episodes with each parent). Parental sensitivity is assessed using the observational Ainsworth Sensitivity Scale. Discussion: This paper presents an interdisciplinary research project that analyses the roots of the role of empathy in displaying parental sensitive responsiveness. HEART methodologically reaches beyond the questionnaire measurement, controls many factors influencing the dynamics of adult-infant interaction and focuses on the crying signal. By examining parental sensitive responsiveness of expectant couples towards their own ’child’s cues we uniquely explore the validity of the experimental design with a life-like doll. Trial registration: osf.io/ Identifier: osf.io/z5682.

Introduction The article presents a protocol of a cross-sectional study of mental health of pregnant women in relation to the coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic. The primary aim is to compare differences in anxiety and depression scores of pregnant women between countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The secondary aim is to assess demographic, economic, and social aspects affecting maternal anxiety and depression scores among pregnant women worldwide in the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, we will be able to compare differences in perception of the different aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic (social distancing, restrictions related to delivery) between countries and according to the epidemic status (number of infected patients, number of reported deaths). The comparisons will also be done according to the COVID-19 status of the participants. Methods and analysis It is a web-based anonymous survey of pregnant women living in countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey is comprised of 3 sections:Web-based recruitment for health research has proven to be cost-effective and efficient. At current times with the COVID-19 pandemic, limited resources and social distancing restrictions, performing a mental health study involving pregnant women on a large international scale cannot be safely conducted without involving social-media.The fears of pregnant women fall into 3 categories: the medical condition, the economic status and the organization of daily activity.The study has received approval of the medical ethics committee and has been registered on Clinicaltrials.gov. Results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and made public through all available media.

In most studies, paired bilingual programs turned out to be more effective in L2 (usually English) literacy acquisition than other types of programs. L1 reading proficiency was shown to foster second language reading acquisition across many languages. However, little is known about L1 reading acquisition in bilingual programs. The study examines the effect of a paired-bilingual education program conducted in Polish (L1) and English (L2) on word reading fluency in Polish as L1 after an average of 1 and 2.5 years of literacy training. 61 Polish children obtaining Polish-only literacy training and 54 children obtaining the paired-bilingual Polish-English literacy training completed word and pseudoword reading and onset-rhyme (rhyme production) and phoneme awareness (phoneme deletion and phonemic differentiation) tasks in Polish. Also Rapid Automatized Naming (RAN) and English (L2) word fluency were tested. A strong main effect of the literacy level was observed, pointing to a progressive tendency in reading efficiency in both groups of children. Moreover, a significant interaction between the group and literacy level was documented. Beginner readers (after one year of literacy instruction) from the monolingual literacy group showed a higher word reading proficiency than students from the paired-bilingual. However, after two and a half years of literacy training children from the paired-bilingual group achieved significantly higher results in Polish word reading than their peers from the monolingual group. Phonological awareness predicted reading fluency in both groups, but no significant differences between the groups were found suggesting other predictors to be responsible for the bilingual group’s advantage.

Objectives: In the three experimental conditions we examined the role of the exposure to recorded infant’s cry (at high and at lower frequency) or laughter and the level of participants’ general se...

Background During childhood, parents are the first and most important individuals who form the base of the content of gender stereotypes in children. A parent’s expectations about the extent a child’s behaviour should be line with gender stereotypes also depends on the intensity of a parent’s sexism. A parent’s sexism may be exhibited in parental attitudes. Hence, in our study we analysed the relationship between parental ambivalent sexism and parental attitudes within dyads of mothers and fathers with a special focus on the role of the gender of both parents and children. Participants and procedure Two hundred and ninety-four couples of parents of five-year-olds (153 girls, 141 boys) participated. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (ASI) was used to measure levels of sexism, and the Parental Attitudes Scale (SPR) was used to assess parental attitudes. Results In terms of the profile of parental attitudes, regardless of the child’s sex, mothers and fathers scored highest for inconsequent and demanding attitudes, and lowest for overprotective and autonomy attitudes. The child’s sex is also not important for the overall levels of parents’ sexism – fathers exhibit higher levels of hostile sexism in comparison to mothers. Only the mothers’ education level is important for levels of sexism – women with higher education exhibited the lowest levels of hostile sexism. The child’s sex moderates relationships between parents’ sexism and parental attitudes. In the case of mothers of sons, the intensity of benevolent sexism is negatively related to overprotective and demanding attitudes. The more educated the mothers of sons, the more demanding they were. For fathers of sons, the inconsequence attitude increases under the influence of both hostile and benevolent sexism. Among fathers of daughters, hostile sexism strengthens the overprotective attitude, while levels of both benevolent and hostile sexism as well as education influence the autonomy attitude. Conclusions The gender of both the parents and the child moderates the relationship between sexism and parental attitudes. The role of sexism in shaping the attitude of mothers towards sons is the most prominent – it seems that it guards the ‘manliness’ of young boys.

The predictors of social closeness toward refugees are rarely examined. In this study (N = 337), higher cultural intelligence (CQ) and higher empathy were defined as predictors of higher social closeness (lower social distance [the Social Distance Scale] and warmer feelings [the Feeling Thermometer]) toward refugees from Syria. This is the target group of prejudice and intensive coverage in the European mass media. The obtained results indicated that other-oriented empathy (empathic concern and perspective taking) and the motivational CQ predicted higher social closeness and warmer feelings toward refugees from Syria. Empathic personal distress predicted lower social closeness and colder feelings toward this group. Motivational CQ consistently served as the mediator of the relationship between empathy dimensions and social closeness toward Syrian refugees. Our findings reveal the previously unexplored correlations between empathy dimensions and cultural intelligence factors, including the mediational effects in predicting social closeness toward Syrian refugees.

Background The research has shown that kangaroo mother care has a protective impact both on health and future cognitive skills of prematurely born babies. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between the early skin-to-skin contact and the cognitive and emotional-social functioning of preschool aged preterm babies. Participants and procedure The study group included 99 preterm babies. The children participated in a psychological examination conducted using the Columbia Mental Maturity Scale and the Terman-Merrill Test. The data concerning the skin-to-skin contact during the child’s hospitalisation were acquired during interviews with mothers. The emotional development was assessed on the basis of interviews with mothers, conducted using the Rescorla DSM-IV Orientation Scale (2005). Results The study showed no relation between kangaroo mother care and cognitive development. Nevertheless the early skin-to-skin contact turned out to be connected with the emotional functioning of the subjects. Preterm babies who used to experience kangaroo mother care experienced fewer anxiety and depressive disorders than those who did not. In addition it was revealed that the children who suffered from early damage to the brain in the forms of intraventricular and periventricular haemorrhages and experienced kangaroo mother care demonstrated less intense depressive symptoms than those who did not. Conclusions The obtained results, combined with the review of the foreign literature of the subject, indicate the usefulness of introducing kangaroo mother care to neonatal wards and encouraging parents to care about their prematurely born babies in such a way.

Schools are introducing more and more non-evidence-based methods in dyslexia therapy. The aim of the study is to verify whether the novel method – Warnke Method can be regarded as a useful tool in dyslexia therapy in Polish children. The research group consisted of 37 pupils, between 10 and 12 years, diagnosed with developmental dyslexia. Participants were assessed at pretest on literacy and phonological processing and tasks measuring central auditory and visual processing with Warnke Method tools. Subsequently, each child underwent 20 training sessions of Warnke Method. Afterwards, children were assessed with posttest measures. Results showed that phonological processing served as a mediator in relationship between central auditory and visual processing and reading and writing skills. Significant improvement was observed with regard to central auditory and visual processing, phonological processing, as well as reading and writing skills. Furthermore, improvement was seen in students' grades of Polish language and literature classes.