Karine Dubois-Comtois

• Professor
• University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres

To prevent young children’s injuries, studies have considered both child (e.g., temperament, age, sex) and parent factors (e.g., parental supervision and style, attachment) associated with risk-taking behaviors. Building on risk-taking theory literature, Jonas and Kochanska (Jonas & Kochanska, Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 46:1573–1583, 2018...

Adopting a family system perspective, this study sets out to explore the association between family configurations of mother-child and father-child attachment to better understand children’s externalizing and internalizing behaviors in toddlerhood. A total of 182 heterosexual biparental families and their children (90 boys) were recruited from the...

La présente étude évalue si la perception des mères d’avoir un enfant difficile modère l’association entre la maltraitance qu’elles ont vécue durant l’enfance et leur sensibilité auprès de leur enfant. Quatre-vingt-quatorze mères d’enfants (0-6 ans) suivies pour maltraitance ou identifiées à haut risque de maltraitance ont complété des mesures auto...

This longitudinal study assessed how parent-child relationship quality during the first COVID-19 lockdown was related to changes in internalizing, externalizing, and sleep problems during the first months of the pandemic: during lockdown, partial deconfinement, and total deconfinement. Participants included 167 children (9-12 year) and their parent...

Children with a parent who suffers from depression are more likely to develop internalizing problems themselves. Moreover, poverty is an additional risk factor for child internalizing problems. According to models of intergenerational transmission of depression, various environmental mechanisms may account for this transmission. However, very few s...

Although vulnerability is a somewhat nebulous concept, the term is widely used in child protection, and child protection workers often refer to vulnerability when describing the situations of families they work with. Because perceiving families as vulnerable or as living in vulnerable conditions may impact interventions, it is important to know wha...

This study examines the stability of child attachment to mothers and fathers separately, and to both parents as a network between the infancy and preschool periods using a sample of 143 biparental families and their children (73 boys) recruited from the general population. Attachment was assessed at 15 months with the Strange Situation Procedure (S...

L’intervention relationnelle est particulièrement adaptée pour répondre aux cas de négligence car elle repose sur les réactions de l’enfant comme guide pour ajuster les comportements parentaux. Grâce au visionnement commenté de courts échanges filmés entre l’enfant et son parent, ce dernier peut, avec l’aide de l’intervenant, apprendre à repérer le...

This longitudinal study investigates whether the quality of family interactions at 3–5 years of age predicts narrative abilities in 7–9‐year‐old children from socioeconomically disadvantaged families. The sample consists of 67 children and their parents receiving social welfare. Family interactions were filmed during mealtime at home and coded usin...

An increase in maternal prenatal psychological distress (PD), operationalized here as anxio-depressive symptomato- logy, has been observed during the COVID-19 pandemic (Berthelot et al., 2020) and been associated with infant developmental delays as early as two months old (Duguay et al., 2021). Furthermore, parents who experienced childhood trauma...

Background: Individuals who experience chronic relational trauma within the parent-child relationship are at risk of developing disorganized representations of attachment relationships in the form of Hostile-Helpless (HH) states of mind. While this association is well recognized theoretically, few studies to date have empirically tested predictors...

Background: Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a worldwide increase in the incidence of child abuse. Studies show that the pandemic context contributes to exacerbate several risk factors usually associated with the use of violent disciplinary practices. Objective: This study aims to better understand the role of parenta...

Cette étude vise à décrire les différents types de commentaires d’orientation mentale (OM) des mères et des pères durant leurs interactions de jeu avec leur enfant d’âge préscolaire issus d’un contexte de précarité financière et à examiner si ces commentaires sont liés à la compréhension des émotions des enfants. L’échantillon est composé de 78 enf...

Childhood maltreatment is theorized as impeding the development of reflective functioning (RF; ability to perceive and interpret oneself and others in terms of mental states). However, previous research typically failed to support this association or yielded small sized and mixed associations. This study aims to provide a deeper look at the associa...

The purpose of this meta-analysis is to summarize research findings on the association between contact with biological parents and mental health in the context of out-of-home placement and to test potential moderating effects.

Background: The global health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in situations of risk of child abuse and neglect. Objective: The objective of this study was to examine whether the Attachment Video-feedback Intervention (AVI) program can improve protective factors (decrease parental stress and household chaos, increase...

Studies describing the link between infant sleeping arrangements and postpartum maternal depressive symptoms have led to inconsistent findings. However, expectations regarding these sleeping arrangements were rarely taken into consideration. Furthermore, very few studies on pediatric sleep have included fathers. Therefore, the aims of this study we...

Objectives Given that postpartum sleep is an important family process, further investigations including both mothers and fathers are necessary. The present study aimed to describe and compare sleep patterns and intraindividual night-to-night variability in mothers and fathers at 6 months postpartum using subjective and objective sleep measures. De...

To date, few researchers have focused on the role that the parent–child relationship can play in children’s risk-taking, and none has done so while taking into account the father-child relationship. This paper examines two types of parent–child relationships, the attachment relationship and the activation relationship, both of which are theoretical...

The purpose of this study was to examine, in a sample of residential care children, the moderating role of cognitive flexibility in the association between maltreatment and emotion regulation competencies. The sample included 69 children aged 8 to 12 and their group home educator as their primary caretaker. Educators completed questionnaires evalua...

Chronic relational trauma can lead to the formation of pervasively unintegrated attachment representations in adulthood, referred to as Hostile‐Helpless (HH) states of mind. Individuals with this type of attachment disorganization evidence conflicting evaluations of caregivers and have difficulty reflecting on their traumatic childhood experiences....

Background An upsurge in psychological distress was documented in pregnant women during the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigated with a longitudinal design whether prenatal and postnatal maternal distress during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with lower infant socioemotional development. Methods Pregnant women (N = 468, M age = 30,00, 97.6% Wh...

L’objectif de cet article est de présenter une réflexion sur la place du concept de l’attachement dans l’évaluation des candidats à l’accueil familial. Les représentations d’attachement du parent d’accueil prédisent sa capacité à se montrer sensible aux besoins de l’enfant placé mais aussi à l’adaptation de ce dernier. Or, l’évaluation des représen...

Introduction: The role of birth order has been examined in various health-related areas, but few studies have examined its influence on sleep during infancy. Studies that have investigated the topic yield inconsistent findings. Moreover, nocturnal maternal practices may differ depending on the number of children in the home, but these characteristi...

Introduction: Throughout the postpartum period, parents are exposed to a lot of information about infant sleep. Unfortunately, this information is sometimes contradictory, which can leave parents feeling confused and with a heightened sense of pressure to follow certain practices. In studies investigating parenting, this perceived pressure is often...

Children in foster care are more likely to exhibit emotional, behavioral, social, and developmental problems. Accordingly, foster families should provide them with a safe family environment that promotes their development. Therefore, to ensure that foster families adequately meet children's needs, it is crucial for youth protection services to prop...

The association between maternal sensitivity and attachment security has long been established among normative samples. However, less is known about how this association operates among children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This meta-analytic review is the first to address the association between maternal sensitivity/availability and attachm...

Introduction: The influence of birth order has been investigated in many areas of child development, but few studies have examined its relationship with infant sleep; those that have yield contradictory findings. Moreover, nocturnal parental practices may differ depending on the number of children, but these characteristics are rarely studied. This...

Introduction: Studies suggest that feeling pressure about parenting practices is related to higher levels of stress. However, little is known about the pressure mothers feel about infant sleep-related parenting practices. This is surprising, considering that mothers are often exposed to contradictory information about infant sleep. This exploratory...

Introduction: Research on the link between sleep quality and depression in the postpartum period has focused primarily on mothers. Although fathers also experience poorer postpartum sleep and are at risk of developing depressive symptoms, they remain understudied. To date, the limited research focusing on paternal sleep and depression has relied on...

This series of meta-analysis examines the association between attachment, as measured by the Adult Attachment Interview, and anxious symptomatology. On the basis of 37 independent samples (N = 2,307), a moderate and significant association was demonstrated between insecure attachment and anxiety symptoms (d = 0.27, CI 0.08 ∼ 0.47). The method used...

This meta-analysis aims at comparing mental health problems of children in foster care to those living with their biological parents while taking in consideration different protective and risk factors. Across 41 studies with a total of 72 independent effect sizes, a significant but small effect size was found between foster care placement and psych...

Les données de la littérature indiquent une augmentation du nombre d'enfants pris en charge par l’aide sociale tous placements confondus. Les enfants placés sont exposés à un risque élevé de problèmes de santé mentale à court, moyen et long terme. Ainsi, des recherches sont nécessaires pour identifier les facteurs qui pourraient être ciblés au cour...

Introduction Research on the link between sleep quality and depression in the postpartum period has focused primarily on mothers. Although fathers also experience poorer postpartum sleep and are at risk of developing depressive symptoms, they remain understudied. To date, the limited research focusing on paternal sleep and depression has relied on...

Introduction Studies suggest that feeling pressure about parenting practices is related to higher levels of stress. However, little is known about the pressure mothers feel about infant sleep-related parenting practices. This is surprising, considering that mothers are often exposed to contradictory information about infant sleep. This exploratory...

Introduction The influence of birth order has been investigated in many areas of child development, but few studies have examined its relationship with infant sleep; those that have yield contradictory findings. Moreover, nocturnal parental practices may differ depending on the number of children, but these characteristics are rarely studied. This...

Background While fathers are at risk of developing poorer sleep and depressive symptoms in the postpartum period, they represent an understudied population in the literature. The present study aimed to explore the association between sleep and postpartum depressive symptoms in fathers using subjective and objective sleep measures. Methods Fifty-fo...

Background Recent evidence suggests that offspring of mothers having been exposed to childhood abuse and neglect (CA&N) are at increased risk of developmental problems and that boys are more affected by maternal CA&N than girls. Since impairments in reflective functioning (RF) have been associated with maternal CA&N and offspring development, RF co...

Objective: To evaluate how sociodemographic characteristics and various aspects of parent well-being, family functioning, parent-child relationship, and child characteristics are related to psychological functioning in children aged 9 to 12 years during the COVID-19 lockdown. Method: Participants included 144 children aged 9 to 12 years and thei...

This study examines, in low-income families, whether fathers' distress is associated with behavioral problems in preschool children and if the quality of father-child interactions mediates this association. Participants were 81 children between the ages of 3 and 5 years and their parents who were receiving social welfare. Quality of father-child in...

Study objectives: To investigate whether the interaction between infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms is associated with the degree to which mothers perceive infant sleep to be problematic at six months postpartum, independent of infant sleep and sociodemographic factors. Methods: Infant negative affectivity and maternal...

In adults, higher anxiety level related to COVID-19 has been associated with having a preexisting medical or mental health condition and poor sleep quality. However, no study yet has looked at these links in children. The present study’s main aim was to assess family changes associated with child and parent fears and concerns about COVID-19. We con...

Background Little attention has been given to intergenerational transmission of risk, mainly whether caregivers’ history of childhood maltreatment is linked to behavioral symptoms in their children and which protective/risk factors are involved in this transmission process. Objective This study examined if parental Hostile/Helpless (H/H) state of...

Sleep disruption and deprivation are highly prevalent among parents of an infant. However, most postpartum sleep studies focus solely on mothers, and few studies have investigated whether sleep differs between first‐time and experienced parents. The present study aimed to determine whether self‐reported sleep duration and quality differ between fir...

Objective There are substantial inter-individual differences in infants’ longest consecutive sleep duration. However, intra-individual differences are rarely considered. The present study aimed to describe night-to-night variability in achieving 6 or 8 h of consolidated sleep over a 13-night period in 6-month-old infants. Methods Forty-four typica...

Two parenting capacity assessment (PCA) protocols, with a short parent-child intervention embedded in each protocol, evaluated the potential for enhanced parenting to orient child placement decision. Parents ( n = 69), with substantiated reports of maltreatment by child protective services, and their children (0–6) were randomly assigned to one of...

Objectives/Introduction: Infant temperament and maternal depression have been associated with maternal perceptions of infant sleep problems. However, infant sleep parameters are rarely taken into consideration. Moreover, the relation between anxiety and perceptions of infant sleep problems among mothers remains largely unknown. This study aimed to...

Objectives/Introduction: Reduced sleep duration and poor sleep quality are common among parents during the postpartum period. Some studies suggest that becoming a parent for the first time represents a more significant transition than the experience of having a second or third child. However, few studies have examined this subject, especially in th...

Objectives/Introduction: Infant temperament and maternal depression have been associated with maternal perceptions of infant sleep problems. However, infant sleep parameters are rarely taken into consideration. Moreover, the relation between anxiety and perceptions of infant sleep problems among mothers remains largely unknown. This study aimed to...

Introduction: Certain temperament characteristics in infants have been shown to be associated with infant sleep patterns. However, other sleep-related practices, such as co-sleeping and breastfeeding, are also known to be associated with sleep in infancy and are not always taken into account in studies assessing the association between temperament...

Introduction Certain temperament characteristics in infants have been shown to be associated with infant sleep patterns. However, other sleep-related practices, such as co-sleeping and breastfeeding, are also known to be associated with sleep in infancy and are not always taken into account in studies assessing the association between temperament a...

Contexte : Les études récentes ont contribué à distinguer les comportements de désinhibition du contact social (CDCS) du concept d’attachement. Certains auteurs, en s’appuyant sur de rares études qui ont observé une corrélation entre les CDCS et l’attachement insécure chez de jeunes enfants, soutiennent qu’il pourrait tout de même exister une assoc...

This study examined parent-child relationship variables (child attachment, parental sensitivity, and prior parenting experience) and child behavior problems in parents and their international adopted children with a cleft lip and palate (CLP+; n = 29) and without a CLP- (n = 55). First, results do not show any group differences on child attachment...

Problématique de recherche : Une durée de sommeil réduite et une mauvaise qualité de sommeil sont communes chez les parents après la naissance de leur bébé. Quelques études suggèrent que devenir parent pour la première fois représente une transition plus marquante que l’expérience d’avoir un deuxième ou troisième enfant, mais peu d’études ont exami...

Introduction: Bien que le lien entre le tempérament et le sommeil des nourrissons ait fait l'objet d'études antérieures, l'allaitement et le partage du lit, deux pratiques pourtant étroitement associées au sommeil des nourrissons, sont rarement considérées dans cette association. L'objectif de cette étude est donc d'examiner le lien entre différent...

Introduction: Les nouveaux parents se demandent souvent à quel âge leur nourrisson présentera un sommeil consolidé, un processus communément appelé “faire ses nuits”. Bien que la proportion de nourrissons ayant un sommeil consolidé augmente avec l’âge, plusieurs études ont montré une grande variabilité entre les nourrissons dans ce processus. La ma...

Résumé But de l’étude Cette étude a pour objectif d’évaluer le lien entre des indices de fonctionnement psychologique maternel et la qualité de l’attachement de l’enfant à sa mère, dans un échantillon clinique pédopsychiatrique. Méthode Vingt-neuf enfants (âgés entre 23 et 71 mois) consultant en service de pédopsychiatrie et leur mère ont partici...

Infant sleep patterns evolve rapidly over the first year of life and are characterized by substantial changes in sleep duration and fragmentation (1). As such, pediatric health professionals frequently address parents' concerns about infant sleep (2). Parents are particularly concerned about the age at which their infant will consolidate their slee...

Background: Sleep problems among preschoolers are highly prevalent. Given the impact of poor sleep quality on development, this relationship is particularly relevant in vulnerable populations but is less documented. This study aims to document parental perception of sleep problems in preschoolers assessed in a psychiatric clinic, as a function of d...

Objectives Mental health professionals who work with children face various challenges, requiring them to consider factors that aim to promote healthy adaptation in their clients. There is a growing body of literature showing that child attachment pattern, as well as mentalizing ability in both children and their parents, are related to various indi...

Introduction: New parents are often concerned about when their infant will consolidate their sleep, a process referred to as « sleeping through the night ». While the proportion of infants who sleep through the night increases with age, studies have shown considerable variability among infants in this process. The majority of studies rely on questi...

Introduction: Perinatal studies have shown a robust association between increased maternal sleep deprivation and increased maternal depressive symptoms. However, studies examining the link between maternal anxiety and sleep in new mothers are scarce and have yielded mixed results. One recent study found that anxious mothers were more likely to misi...

Introduction: Infant sleep arrangements have been shown to be associated with maternal depressive symptoms. However, parental expectations about infant sleep location are rarely taken into consideration. Moreover, there is little research that includes fathers in pediatric sleep studies. The aims of this study were 1) to compare parental attitudes...

Introduction: There is major inter- and intra-variability related to infant sleep patterns, possibly leading to a vast range of parental expectations. While expectations have been identified as a key factor in the emotional adjustment of new parents, they have not been studied in relation to infant sleep. This study aimed to 1) document the age par...

Introduction There is major inter- and intra-variability related to infant sleep patterns, possibly leading to a vast range of parental expectations. While expectations have been identified as a key factor in the emotional adjustment of new parents, they have not been studied in relation to infant sleep. This study aimed to 1) document the age pare...

Introduction New parents are often concerned about when their infant will consolidate their sleep, a process referred to as « sleeping through the night ». While the proportion of infants who sleep through the night increases with age, studies have shown considerable variability among infants in this process. The majority of studies rely on questio...

Introduction Perinatal studies have shown a robust association between increased maternal sleep deprivation and increased maternal depressive symptoms. However, studies examining the link between maternal anxiety and sleep in new mothers are scarce and have yielded mixed results. One recent study found that anxious mothers were more likely to misin...

Introduction Infant sleep arrangements have been shown to be associated with maternal depressive symptoms. However, parental expectations about infant sleep location are rarely taken into consideration. Moreover, there is little research that includes fathers in pediatric sleep studies. The aims of this study were 1) to compare parental attitudes r...

Alors que plusieurs études ont montré un lien entre le manque de sommeil et la présence de symptômes dépressifs chez la mère, peu d’études ont considéré la présence de symptômes anxieux. Par ailleurs, il y a un manque flagrant d’études considérant également les symptômes du père dans le domaine périnatal. Cette étude vise donc à explorer le lien en...

Les éveils nocturnes des bébés constituent l’une des principales plaintes des nouveaux parents (Sadeh, 2009). Cette étude visait à comparer la durée subjective (évaluée par les deux parents à l’aide d’un questionnaire) et objective (mesurée à l’aide de l’actigraphie) de la durée moyenne des éveils nocturnes de leur bébé de 6 mois (analyses prélimin...

Résumé Le trouble dysphorique prémenstruel (TDPM) est caractérisé par l’apparition de symptômes thymiques, physiques et comportementaux, survenant une semaine avant le début des menstruations. Depuis son inclusion dans les troubles dépressifs du DSM-5 en 2013 (la version la plus récente du Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders de l’...

Introduction: Il existe une grande variabilité des patrons de sommeil entre les nourrissons, ce qui peut générer une vaste gamme d’attentes parentales. Bien que les attentes aient été identifiées comme un facteur clé de l’adaptation émotionnelle des nouveaux parents, elles n’ont pas été étudiées en relation avec le sommeil. Cette étude visait 1) à...

Des études ont montré l’association entre les arrangements de sommeil des nourrissons et les symptômes dépressifs de la mère, les attentes des parents quant à ces arrangements sont rarement prises en compte. De plus, il y a un manque d’études incluant les pères dans le domaine du sommeil pédiatrique. Les objectifs de cette étude étaient 1) de compa...