Psychological States of Parents and Their Subjective Assessment of Family Relations as the Factors of Mental Development and Health of Children Aged 4, Born After IVF

Abstract

The article presents the results of a longitudinal study of child development, aimed at investigating to identify the characteristics of psychological states, marital relations and parenting behaviors in mothers and fathers of pre-school children conceived though IVF; to investigate their relationships with development and health of these children. 220 families (mother, father, 4-year-old child): 90 families with induced pregnancy (IVF), 130 families with natural conception (NC). Questionnaires based on the measures used in the fifth wave of QLSCD and the fourth wave of TEDS. Most families of empirical groups are satisfied with marital relations and are characterized by a normative level of anxiety. A quarter of all respondents have increased anxiety, which may indicate some lack of coping resources. It was found that in the IVF group compared to the control group: fathers have a more pronounced incidence of simple phobias; mothers show less consistency in raising children. It has been established that in the IVF group, the factors that act as predictors of cognitive development, emotional and social development, behavioral disorders, children's health status can be the severity of stress and fatigue of the mother and father, the degree of concern and tension during the year in the mother, the level of anxiety father and mother, parental strategies for the relationship to the child. Parental strategies, as well as the subjective assessment of marital relations, can influence as moderators, strengthening or weakening the influence of indicators of intra-family relations on the development of children. The facts found indicate the need to introduce differentiated preventive psychological and pedagogical programs in order to inform families and educators about the impact of socio-psychological factors on the behavior, mental development and health of children of early preschool age.