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FrancoAngeli Journals

Ricerche/Research

No. 2 (2024)

The Quality of the Early Parent-child Relationship: Introduction of a Psycho-relational Form/Interview in Pediatric Health Assessments. First Results for the 0-36 Months Age Group

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/qg2024-2oa18206
Submitted
luglio 22, 2024
Published
2024-12-18

Abstract

There are very time-consuming and demanding procedures for assessing the early parent-child relationship. The aim of this research was to create a simple and intuitive form to be administered in pediatric health reports that assesses the child’s psychological development and the parent-child relationship (Psycho-Relational Form), leading to a final evaluation on two alert parameters; Level 1: the pediatrician re-evaluates the psychological and relational aspects at the next health report; Level 2: psychological/psychotherapeutic or neuropsychiatric counselling is required.

At the suggestion of the Italian Society of Gestalt Psychotherapy (SIPG), a research group was set up with the Italian Society of Pediatrics (SIP) and the Italian Society of Child Neuropsychiatry (SINPIA), which constructed the Form and had it administered by a number of family pediatricians. Thirty cards were collected from 1-month-olds, 30 from 3-month-olds, 30 from 6-month-olds, 23 from 12-month-olds, 17 from 18-24-month-olds and 21 from 36-month-olds (total of 141 cards for the age group 0-36 months), with random sampling of children who presented themselves at the Health Report. Using statistical instruments, the relational and psychological manifestations of the child, the emotional-psychological state of the parent and the quality of the parent-child relationship were investigated.

In the first few months of life, the children considered attain almost all the elements provided for in the form, while at 18-24 months there was a decrease in the capacities attained, which increased again at 36 months. A significant difference emerged between mother and father in the change in mood and feeding from the child’s birth until 12 months and in the change in sleep from 0 to 36 months. The father’s sleep alteration changed in the various age groups of the child: it was more present when the child was 1 month old and tended to decrease as the child grew. Finally, a difference could be seen in the child’s accompaniment to the pediatric visit: at 1 month, most of the children considered were accompanied by both parents, whereas as they grew older, they were increasingly accompanied by only one parent, mainly the mother.

The results turned out to be in line with expectations and previous theoretical contributions. The limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed.

In the future, our research group will evaluate the entire pediatric age range 0-14 years.

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