Psychosocial Factors Associated with Prenatal Parental Reflective Functioning: A Scoping Review

Pregnancy marks the onset of the parenting journey and provides a critical window for understanding the development of parental mentalizing capacity. Prenatal Parental Reflective Functioning (P-PRF) indicates the expectant parents’ willingness to consider the baby’s reactions in relation to their own behaviours and mental states (as cited in Pajulo et al., 2015; 2006; Slade, 2002). P-PRF has been increasingly examined in relation to psychosocial experiences, relational histories, and perinatal mental health, as well as a predictor of subsequent parenting and child outcomes. Despite this growing interest, findings remain dispersed, with limited clarity regarding the range of variables studied and the ways in which P-PRF has been positioned within empirical models. A scoping review is therefore warranted to synthesize and map this evidence to identify patterns, gaps, and directions for future research. A preliminary search of PubMed, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Open Source Framework, Prospero and JBI Evidence Synthesis was conducted and no current or underway systematic reviews or scoping reviews on the topic were identified. The objective of this scoping review is to assess the extent and nature of the literature on psychosocial factors correlated with and predicted by prenatal parental reflective functioning amongst expectant parents during pregnancy. Additionally, this scoping review will also examine the methods used for measuring P-PRF and specific socio-demographic and pregnancy-related contexts within which it has been explored. This scoping review primarily seeks to address: 1. What are the correlates of prenatal parental reflective functioning amongst expectant parents during pregnancy? 2. Which psychosocial factors have been examined in relation to prenatal parental reflective functioning as a predictor? In doing so, we also aim to address the following questions: 3. Which methods have been used to measure prenatal parental reflective functioning in expectant parents? 4. What is the timing and frequency of assessments used to examine the correlates and factors predicted by prenatal parental reflective functioning (e.g. cross sectional v/s longitudinal study designs) ? 5. Which participant groups (e.g., expectant mothers, fathers, parental dyads) have been examined in relation to prenatal parental reflective functioning? 6. What is the gestational age of the fetus-child when prenatal parental reflective functioning is examined in expectant parents? 7. What is the parity/ gravida status of the pregnant women when prenatal parental reflective functioning is examined in expectant parents? 8. What is the pregnancy risk-status amongst expectant parents for whom prenatal parental reflective functioning has been measured (e.g., mental health status, pregnancy-related complications, psychosocial contexts, etc.)? 9. In which settings (e.g., community, clinical, forensic, etc.) has prenatal parental reflective functioning been measured?