Eye of the beholder? Maternal mental health and the quality of infant sleep

Abstract

Transactional models of parenting and infant sleep call attention to bidirectional associations among parenting, the biosocial environment, and infant sleep behaviors. Although night waking and bedtime fussing are normative during infancy and early childhood, they can be challenging for parents. The current study, conducted in the United States between 2003 and 2009, examined concurrent and longitudinal associations between maternal mental health and infant sleep during the first year. Concurrent associations at 6 and 12 months and longitudinal associations from 6 to 12 months were studied in a non-clinic referred sample of 171 economically and culturally diverse families. Mothers with poorer mental health reported that their infants had more night waking and bedtime distress and were more bothered by these sleep issues. Associations between infant sleep and maternal mental health were moderated by culture (Hispanic/Asian vs. other) and by stressors that included high parenting stress, more stressful life events, and low family income. Individual differences in maternal well-being may color mothers’ interpretations of infants’ sleep behaviors. It may be prudent to intervene to support maternal mental health when infants are referred for sleep problems.

Infant Regulation and Child Mental Health Concerns: A Longitudinal Study

“…Previous research has repeatedly revealed an association between infant sleep problems and maternal depression and distress. [21][22][23][24][25] Our findings indicate that multiple moderate-tosevere infant regulatory problems are associated with greatly increased rates of maternal distress, with approximately one-third of mothers with infants who are severely unsettled reporting distress in the clinical range. Interventions that are targeted at the mother-infant dyad rather than the infant regulatory problem in isolation may be the most appropriate for these families.…”

Recent Updates in the Social and Environmental Determinants of Sleep Health

“…Postpartum depression when the child is 5 months old is associated with more infant nighttime awakenings at 9 months old [15]. Maternal depression and anxiety when the child is 6 or 12 months old is associated with concurrent infant sleep problems, and maternal anxiety when the child is 6 months old is associated with more crying at bedtime 6 months later [16]. The association of maternal depression and infants’ sleep among 1- to 24-month-old infants may come about because mothers who are depressed or worried about their infants’ nighttime needs spend more time with their infants during the night, and maternal nighttime presence predicts more infant awakenings.…”

Translating research-based knowledge about infant sleep into practice

“…Concern has been raised also about how infant nightwakings may affect maternal well-being, especially levels of maternal depression (Bayer, Hiscock, Hampton, & Wake, 2007;Goldberg et al, 2013;Karraker & Young, 2007). Nightwakings, however, may not be the strongest contributor to postnatal depression.…”