From family structure to function: the maternal and paternal role in «modern» families

Journal title PNEI REVIEW
Author/s Mariapia De Bari, Rossana Terni
Publishing Year 2023 Issue 2023/2 Language Italian
Pages 14 P. 21-34 File size 1132 KB
DOI 10.3280/PNEI2023-002003
DOI is like a bar code for intellectual property: to have more infomation click here

Below, you can see the article first page

If you want to buy this article in PDF format, you can do it, following the instructions to buy download credits

Article preview

FrancoAngeli is member of Publishers International Linking Association, Inc (PILA), a not-for-profit association which run the CrossRef service enabling links to and from online scholarly content.

The pluralisation of families and the formation of new family identities has shifted the focus of research and clinical evaluation of the family to the study of co-paren- ting and paternal and maternal functions that go beyond gender definitions. There are numerous studies that confirm the influence of the quality of family relationships and the social environment on the psychological development of children with respect to the number of parents, their gender, sexual orien- tation or method of conception. However, phenomena of stigmatisation, prejudice and discrimination towards those families who deviate from the traditional family still persist. Research has repeatedly shown that children who have no biological connection to their parents do not differ from those who share a biological relationship and that there is no relationship between parental sexual orientation and any type of measure of sexual orientation, emotional, psychosocial and behavio- ral adaptation of the child. Transversally across the different family forms, it is the high levels of parental stress, couple conflicts and an imbalance in the affective and ethical-normative parental functions that generate long-term maladjustment in the offspring.

Keywords: Coparenting, Family, LGBT, New family forms, Parent-child relationship, Stigma.

  1. Aviv E.C., Cardenas S.I., Leon G., Waizman Y.H., Gonzales C., Flores G., Martínez- García M., Saxbe D.E. (2023). Prenatal prolactin predicts postnatal parenting attitudes and brain structure remodeling in first-time fathers. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 156, 106332.
  2. Carmona S., Martínez-García M., Paternina-Die M., Barba-Müller E., Wierenga L.M., Alemán-Gómez Y., Pretus C., Marcos-Vidal L., Beumala L., Cortizo R., Pozzobon C., Picado M., Lucco F., García-García D., Soliva J.C., Tobeña A., Peper J.S., Crone E.A., Ballesteros A., Vilarroya O., Desco M., & Hoekzema E. (2019). Pregnancy and adolescence entail similar neuroanatomical adaptations: a comparative analysis of cerebral morphometric changes. Human Brain Mapping, 40(7), 2143–2152.
  3. Cheung R.Y. M., Boise C., Cummings E.M., & Davies P.T. (2018). Mothers’ and Fathers’ Ro- les in Child Adjustment: Parenting Practices and Mothers’ Emotion Socialization as Predictors. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27, 4033–4043.
  4. Cook R., Golombok S., Bish A., & Murray C. (1995). Keeping secrets: A study of parental attitudes toward telling about donor insemination. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65(4), 549–559.
  5. Erikson E.H. (1984). I cicli della vita. Continuità e mutamenti. Roma: Armando.
  6. Essau C.A., Sasagawa S., & Frick P.J. (2006). Psychometric properties of the alabama parenting questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15(5), 597–616.
  7. Farr R.H., & Vázquez C.P. (2020). Stigma Experiences, Mental Health, Perceived Parenting Competence, and Parent–Child Relationships Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Adop- tive Parents in the United States. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 445.
  8. Fruggeri L. (2018). Famiglie d’oggi. Quotidianità, dinamiche e processi psicosociali. Roma: Carocci.
  9. Giacometti K., & Mazzei D. (2011). Il terapeuta sistemico-relazionale. Milano: Franco Angeli Giacopino R. (2017). La traità nel contatto cogenitoriale: dal concepimento alla nascita. In: Merenda A., Ed., Genitori con. Modelli di coparenting attuali e corpi familiari in Gestalt The- rapy. (pp.123- 134). Assisi: Cittadella Editrice.
  10. Goldberg A.E., & Garcia R. (2020). Community Characteristics, Victimization, and Psycho- logical Adjustment Among School-Aged Adopted Children With Lesbian, Gay, and Hetero- sexual Parents. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 372.
  11. Golombok S. (2015). Modern Families: Parents and Children in New Family Forms. Cam- bridge: Cambridge University Press.
  12. Golombok S. (2021). Love and truth: What really matters for children born through third- party assisted reproduction. Child Development Perspectives, 15(2), 103–109.
  13. Golombok S., Ilioi E., Blake L., Roman G., & Jadva V. (2017). A longitudinal study of families formed through reproductive donation: Parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment at age 14. Developmental Psychology, 53(10), 1966–1977.
  14. Golombok S., Jones C., Hall P., Foley S., Imrie S., & Jadva V. (2023). A Longitudinal Study of Families Formed Through Third-Party Assisted Reproduction: Mother–Child Relationships and Child Adjustment From Infancy to Adulthood. Developmental Psy- chology, 59(6), 1059–1073.
  15. Williams J.M., & Smith L.A. (2010). Concepts of kinship relations and inheritance in childhood and adolescence. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 28(3), 523–546. DOI: 10.1348/026151009X44956
  16. Zemp M., Jockers M., & Mata J. (2020). The role of constructiveness in interparental conflict for mothers’ perception of children’s. Family Relations, 69, 683–697.
  17. Trumello C., Babore A., Cofini M., Baiocco R., Chirumbolo A., & Morelli M. (2021). The buffering role of paternal parenting stress in the relationship between maternal pa- renting stress and children’s problematic behaviour. International Journal of Psychology. 56(5), 739–744.
  18. Streit C., & Davis A.N. (2022). The longitudinal links between parenting stress, harsh pa- renting, and adolescents’ social behaviors in Latinx families. Journal of Latinx Psychology, 10(2), 128–139.
  19. Shenkman G., Carone N., Mouton B., d’Amore S., & Bos H.M.W. (2023). Assisted Conception Socialization Self-Efficacy Among Israeli Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Pa- rent Families and its Association with Child Externalizing Problems. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32(1), 180–196.
  20. Siegel M., Legler M., Neziraj F., Goldberg A.E., & Zemp M. (2022). Minority Stress and Positive Identity Aspects in Members of LGBTQ+ Parent Families: Literature Re- view and a Study Protocol for a Mixed-Methods Evidence Synthesis. Children, 9(9), 1364.
  21. Scabini E., & Cigoli V. (2012). Al di là del famigliare. Il modello relazionale-simbolico. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  22. Rijnink E.C., Penning M.E., Wolterbeek R., Wilhelmus S., Zandbergen M., van Duinen S.G., Schutte J., Bruijn J.A, & Bajema I.M. (2015). Tissue microchimerism is increased during pregnancy: a human autopsy study. Molecular Human Reproduction, 21(11), 857–864.
  23. Readings J., Blake L., Casey P., Jadva V., & Golombok S. (2011). Secrecy, openness and everything in between: Decisions of parents of children conceived by donor insemi- nation, egg donation and surrogacy. Reproductive Biomedicine Online, 22(5), 485–495.
  24. Pistella J., Isolani S., Morelli M., Izzo F., & Baiocco R. (2022). Helicopter parenting and alcohol use in adolescence: a quadratic relation. Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 39(2), 134–145. DOI: 10.1177/1455072521100903
  25. Patterson C.J. (2017). Parents’ sexual orientation and children’s development. Child De- velopmental Perspective, 11(1), 45–49.
  26. Mijas M., Blukacz M., Koziara K., Kasparek K., Pliczko M.P., Galbarczyk A., & Jasienska G. (2021). Dysregulated by stigma: Cortisol responses to repeated psychosocial stress in gay and heterosexual men. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 131, 105325.
  27. Meyer I.H. (2003). Prejudice, social stress, and mental health in lesbian, gay, and bisexual populations: conceptual issues and research evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 129(5), 674–697. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.129.5.67
  28. McHale J. (2010). La sfida della cogenitorialità. Milano: Raffaello Cortina.
  29. Luders E., Gingnell M., Poromaa I.S., Engman J., Kurth F., & Gaser C. (2018). Potential brain age reversal after pregnancy: younger brains at 4–6 weeks postpartum. Neuroscience, 386, 309–314.
  30. Lamb M.E. (2012). Critical analysis of research on parenting plans and children’s well- being. In: Kuehnle K., & Drozd L., (Eds.), Parenting Plan Evaluations: Applied Rese- arch for the Family Court. (pp. 214–243). Oxford: University Press.
  31. Kim P., Dufford A.J., & Tribble R.C. (2018). Cortical thickness variation of the mater- nal brain in the first 6 months postpartum: associations with parental self-efficacy. Brain Structure and Function, 223(7), 3267–3277.
  32. Jones C., Foley S., & Golombok S. (2022). Parenting and child adjustment in families with primary caregiver fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 36(3), 406–415.
  33. Jadva V., Jones C., Hall P., Imrie S., & Golombok S. (2023). ‘I know it’s not normal but it’s normal to me, and that’s all that matters’: experiences of young adults concei- ved through egg donation, sperm donation, and surrogacy. Human Reproduction, 38(5), 908–916.
  34. Imrie S., Lysons J., Jadva V., Shaw K., Grimmel J., & Golombok S. (2021). Pa- rent–child relationship quality and child psychological adjustment in families created using egg donation: children’s perspectives at age 5 years. Human Reproduction, 37(3), 499–509.
  35. Imrie S., Jadva V., & Golombok S. (2020). «Making the child mine»: Mothers’ thoughts and feelings about the mother–infant relationship in egg donation families. Journal of Family Psychology, 34(4), 469–479.
  36. Imrie S., & Golombok S. (2020). Impact of new family forms on parenting and child development. Annual Review of Developmental Psychology, 2, 295–316.
  37. Ilioi E., Blake L., Jadva V., Roman G., & Golombok S. (2017). The role of age of disclosure of biological origins in the psychological wellbeing of adolescents conceived by reproductive donation: A longitudinal study from age 1 to age 14. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 58(3), 315–324.
  38. Iafrate R., & Rosnati R. (2007). Riconoscersi genitori. Trento: Erickson
  39. Hwang W.Y., Choi S.Y., & Jeong H. (2022). A Concept analysis of transition to mo- therhood: a methodological study. Korean Journal of Women Health Nursing, 28(1), 8–17
  40. Hoekzema E., Tamnes C.K., Berns P., Barba-Müller E., Pozzobon C., Picado M., Lucco F., Martínez-García M., Desco M., Ballesteros A., Crone E.A., Vilarroya O., & Carmona S. (2020). Becoming a mother entails anatomical changes in the ventral striatum of the human brain that facilitate its responsiveness to offspring cues. Psycho- neuroendocrinology, 112, 104507.

Mariapia De Bari, Rossana Terni, Dalla struttura alla funzione familiare: i ruoli materno e paterno nelle famiglie «moderne» in "PNEI REVIEW" 2/2023, pp 21-34, DOI: 10.3280/PNEI2023-002003