Postpartum depression and mother–offspring conflict over maternal investment

Abstract

Structured Abstract Background and objectives As the mother-offspring relationship is central to human reproduction, postpartum depression symptoms are difficult to explain in evolutionary terms. We proposed that postpartum depression might arise as a result of evolutionary mother-offspring conflict over maternal investment, and investigated the association between postpartum depression symptoms, infant night waking, maternal sleep disturbance and breastfeeding frequency. Methodology We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using survey responses at six months postpartum from 1598 Finnish mothers. We hypothesized that infant night waking at six months postpartum would be associated with postpartum depression symptoms, and that this association would be mediated by maternal sleep disturbance and a higher breastfeeding frequency. Results Infant night waking was moderately associated with postpartum depression symptoms, and this association was mediated by maternal sleep disturbance (R2 = .09). Contrary to our prediction, we found that increased breastfeeding was associated with less postpartum depression symptoms. Conclusions and implications We conclude that postpartum depression symptoms might partly be the result of increased maternal fatigue stemming from high offspring demands on maternal investment, but that this is not due to the metabolic strain from increased breastfeeding. Studying postpartum depression from the mother-offspring conflict perspective can potentially improve our understanding of the involved behavioral processes of both mother and offspring, and allow interventions designed to benefit the well-being of both parties.

Interdiszciplinaritás a szoptatás támogatásában

“…Pszichés gátak: A szoptatás erősíti az anya és az újszülött kötődését, támogatja az anyai kompetenciaérzést, csökkenti a szülés utáni depresszió előfordulását [44], enyhítheti a szorongásos tüneteket -bár az ok-okozati összefüggések feltárása még várat magára [45,46]. Amennyiben az anyacsecsemő diád egymásra hangolódása pszichés problémák következtében sikertelen, funkcionális problémák, táplálási, emésztési, alvási gondok léphetnek fel a csecsemőnél, mely esetekben első lépésként védőnő, laktációs szaktanácsadó és integrált szülő-csecsemő konzulens bevonása és együtt-működése segíthet.…”

Analysis factors affecting postpartum depression in postpartum mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…One of the studies was conducted in Pekanbaru City, Riau Province showing that 16.7% of postpartum mothers had PPD (Misrawati et al, 2014). Another study by Desfanita et al, 2015 showed that most mothers experienced PPD with a total of 40 respondents (53.3%) (Gunst et al, 2021).…”

The Mother–Offspring Conflict: The Association Between Maternal Sleep, Postpartum Depression, and Interbirth Interval Length

“…Previous studies have suggested that infant night waking to breastfeed could be an adaptive strategy by the offspring to lengthen the IBI by suppressing the mother’s fertility ( Haig, 2014 ; Jones et al, 1987 ). A recent study by Gunst et al (2021) suggested that infant night waking could be an adaptation to lengthen the IBI by exhausting the mother through disturbed sleep. The authors hypothesized that mothers exhausted by their offspring would be less likely to conceive and gestate additional offspring (e.g., by decreasing the mother’s sex drive, De Judicibus & McCabe [2002 ]; or by decreasing her fertility by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activation, White [2016 ]), consequently extending the IBI.…”

“…The authors hypothesized that mothers exhausted by their offspring would be less likely to conceive and gestate additional offspring (e.g., by decreasing the mother’s sex drive, De Judicibus & McCabe [2002 ]; or by decreasing her fertility by hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activation, White [2016 ]), consequently extending the IBI. Moreover, according to Gunst et al (2021) , postpartum depression symptoms could in this case be a result of mother-offspring conflict. Bearing in mind the negative impact that postpartum depression has for both the mother’s and the infant’s fitness ( Slomian et al, 2019 ), it is from an evolutionary perspective hard to grasp why it is so prevalent, affecting up to 15% of mothers ( Gavin et al, 2005 ; Shorey et al, 2018 ).…”

“…Bearing in mind the negative impact that postpartum depression has for both the mother’s and the infant’s fitness ( Slomian et al, 2019 ), it is from an evolutionary perspective hard to grasp why it is so prevalent, affecting up to 15% of mothers ( Gavin et al, 2005 ; Shorey et al, 2018 ). Yet, if infant night waking is an adaptation to increase the length of the IBI by exhausting the mother, then postpartum depression could be an unintentional byproduct of this behavior ( Gunst et al, 2021 ). Alternatively, postpartum depression could be adaptive from the offspring’s fitness’ point of view if it makes the mother less able to conceive and gestate an additional offspring, thus lengthening the IBI.…”