A triadic and contextual perspective on parenting development from pregnancy to the child's preschool age.

Background: many studies have highlighted the central role of the quality of early interactions between the child and his/her caregivers and of the parenting style in putting the basis for child's socio-emotional development and adjustment. The framework provided by Fivaz-Depeursinge and Corboz-Warnery (1999)seems to give the chance for a new view on these issues by moving the focus of the research towards the triadic (mother-father-child) interactive system as the main object of investigation. In this perspective the aims of the study were to investigate the relationship between : a) individual characteristics of parents (affective-relational hystory,presence of postnatal depressive symptoms), b) contextual sources of stress and support (the quality of the marital relationship, the socio- economic status) and c) chatracteristics of the child (age, gender, adjustment) and the development of dyadic and triadic competences from pregnancy to the preschool age of the child. Method: 35 non-referred primiparous families were recruited at chld-birth classes. All the families have been seen during pregnancy, at the 4th, 9th, 12th and at the 4th year of the child. Measures included : self report questionnaires (Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Questionnaire on Father Involvment, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), interviews ( Adult Attachment Interview, Symptom Checklist modified ), and observational procedures (Lausanne Trilogue Play). Results: preliminary results show: a) substantial instability of the quality of the family triadic interactions from pregnancy to the child's preschool age; b) a significant increase both in the quality of triadic interactions and the degree of father longitudinal perspective. Conclusions: these observations seem to provide a first evidence of the close relationship between the two constructs (the quality of triadic interactions and the father involvment) during early childhood and their mutual interdependence in fostering a relational context functional to the well-being and the development of the child.