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Article

Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child

by
Hedvig Svendsrud
1,2,
Eivor Fredriksen
1,
Vibeke Moe
1,
Lars Smith
1,
Stella Tsotsi
1,
Anne Karin Ullebø
2,
Gro Vatne Brean
3,
Anne Kaasen
4 and
Mona Bekkhus
1,*
1
Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, 0373 Oslo, Norway
2
Vestfold Hospital Trust, 3103 Tønsberg, Norway
3
Center for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Southern and Eastern Norway, 0484 Oslo, Norway
4
Department of Nursing and Health Promotion, Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Children 2023, 10(7), 1187; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187
Submission received: 19 May 2023 / Revised: 2 July 2023 / Accepted: 5 July 2023 / Published: 8 July 2023
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Developmental Psychopathology in Children: Risk Factors and Parenting)
Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

How expectant fathers think and feel about the unborn child (prenatal representations), has shown associations with fathers’ postnatal parenting behaviors, observed father–infant interactional quality and child cognitive development. There is limited knowledge about fathers’ prenatal representations. The present study examined if fathers’ partner-related attachment styles were related to their prenatal representations of the unborn child. In the “Little in Norway Study”, an ongoing prospective, longitudinal population-based study, 396 expectant fathers completed the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale at enrollment (mean gestational week = 23.76, SD = 4.93), and in gestational weeks 27–35 completed three questions assessing prenatal representations. Correlations of attachment style and prenatal representations were reported using logistic regression analyses. We found that an avoidant attachment style by fathers were predicted to have absent or negative representations on all three items (1) “strongest feeling about the unborn child” (Cl = 1.19–2.73), (2) “thoughts about child personality” (Cl = 1.16–1.87), and (3) “experiences of relationship with the child” (Cl = 1.14–1.75). Father anxious attachment style was not significantly associated with absent or negative prenatal representations. Results suggest that expectant fathers with a partner related avoidant attachment style have an increased risk of having absent or negative prenatal representations of the unborn child.
Keywords: prenatal representations; adult attachment style; bonding; pregnancy; fathers prenatal representations; adult attachment style; bonding; pregnancy; fathers

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MDPI and ACS Style

Svendsrud, H.; Fredriksen, E.; Moe, V.; Smith, L.; Tsotsi, S.; Ullebø, A.K.; Brean, G.V.; Kaasen, A.; Bekkhus, M. Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child. Children 2023, 10, 1187. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187

AMA Style

Svendsrud H, Fredriksen E, Moe V, Smith L, Tsotsi S, Ullebø AK, Brean GV, Kaasen A, Bekkhus M. Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child. Children. 2023; 10(7):1187. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187

Chicago/Turabian Style

Svendsrud, Hedvig, Eivor Fredriksen, Vibeke Moe, Lars Smith, Stella Tsotsi, Anne Karin Ullebø, Gro Vatne Brean, Anne Kaasen, and Mona Bekkhus. 2023. "Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child" Children 10, no. 7: 1187. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187

APA Style

Svendsrud, H., Fredriksen, E., Moe, V., Smith, L., Tsotsi, S., Ullebø, A. K., Brean, G. V., Kaasen, A., & Bekkhus, M. (2023). Becoming Dad: Expectant Fathers’ Attachment Style and Prenatal Representations of the Unborn Child. Children, 10(7), 1187. https://doi.org/10.3390/children10071187

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