Nath, S;
Pearson, RM;
Moran, P;
Pawlby, S;
Molyneaux, E;
Howard, LM;
(2019)
Maternal personality traits, antenatal depressive symptoms and the postpartum mother-infant relationship: a prospective observational study.
Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
10.1007/s00127-019-01790-y.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
Nath2019_Article_MaternalPersonalityTraitsAnten.pdf - Published Version Download (567kB) | Preview |
Abstract
PURPOSE: Maternal depression has been associated with bonding difficulties and lower maternal sensitivity in observed mother-infant interactions. However, little research has examined the impact of disordered personality traits in mothers on these outcomes. We investigated the association between disordered personality traits in mothers measured during pregnancy and postnatal (a) self-reported bonding with infant; (b) observational mother-infant interactions. // METHODS: Five hundred fifty-six women were recruited during early pregnancy and subsequently followed up at mid-pregnancy (approximately 28 weeks' gestation) and when infants were aged approximately 3 months (n = 459). During early pregnancy, data were collected on disordered personality traits (using the Standardised Assessment of Personality Abbreviated Scale) and depressive symptoms (using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale). At 3 months postpartum, self-reported perceived bonding (using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire) were collected. A sub-sample of women additionally provided observational mother-infant interaction data (n = 206) (coded using the Child-Adult Relationship Experimental Index). // RESULTS: Higher disordered personality traits was not associated with maternal perceptions of bonding impairment, but was associated with reduced maternal sensitivity during observational mother-infant interactions [adjusted for age, education, having older children, substance misuse prior to pregnancy, infant sex and gestational age: coefficient = - 0.28, 95% CI = - 0.56 to - 0.00, p < 0.05]. After adjusting for depressive symptoms, the association was attenuated [coefficient = - 0.19, 95% CI = - 0.48 to 0.11, p = 0.217]. // CONCLUSIONS: Mothers with disordered personality traits did not perceive themselves as having bonding impairments with their infants but were less sensitive during observed interactions, though depressive symptoms attenuated this relationship. Both depression and disordered personality traits need to be addressed to optimize mother-infant interactions.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Maternal personality traits, antenatal depressive symptoms and the postpartum mother-infant relationship: a prospective observational study |
| Location: | Germany |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s00127-019-01790-y |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01790-y |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
| Keywords: | Bonding, Depressive symptoms, Disordered personality traits, Mother–infant interaction, Pregnancy |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Population Health Sciences > UCL GOS Institute of Child Health > Population, Policy and Practice Dept |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10085293 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
