Eva Back Madsen defends her PhD thesis

Eva Back Madsen. Photo: Personal

Title

'Parental Reflective Functioning in First-Time Parents of Infants.'

Time and place

15 August 2024 at 1 pm (CEST).

The defence will take place in Auditorium 1.1.18 at The Faculty of Social Sciences (CSS), Øster Farimagsgade 5, Building 1, 1353 Copenhagen.

The defence will also be available via Zoom.

Join the defence on Zoom.
Passcode: 265628.

Assessment committee

  • Associate Professor Sonja Breinholst, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (chair)

  • Associate Professor Michelle Sleed, Anna Freud Centre and University College London (UCL), United Kingdom

  • Associate Professor Tea Trillingsgaard, University of Aarhus, Denmark

Supervisors

  • Professor Mette Skovgaard Væver, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (principal supervisor)

  • Assistant Professor Ida Egmose Pedersen, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (co-supervisor)

Abstract

This thesis examines parental reflective functioning (PRF), i.e., the parental ability to interpret and understand the infant’s behaviour in terms of underlying mental states, in first-time parents of infants four months postpartum. The study has two aims: 1) to examine the fit of the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, Infant Version (PRFQ-I), and 2) to explore whether distinct PRF profiles can be identified using latent profile analysis and if so, how these relate to parental attachment, infant socioemotional adjustment, and parental representational mind-mindedness. The findings provide support for the validity of the PRFQ-I and demonstrate the existence of distinct PRF profiles, which have both theoretical and practical implications.