Predictors of Sensitivity in Mothers of 8-Month-Old Infants

Abstract

This longitudinal study investigated the impact of maternal mental health, including postpartum depression, and of maternal-fetal attachment, on maternal sensitivity when babies were eight months old. The study included 38 mother-infant dyads. The women answered the SRQ-20 and the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale in the third trimester of pregnancy, and the BDI, for evaluation of postpartum depression in the first month following birth. Maternal sensitivity was examined through an observation of mother-child interaction when babies were eight months old. The multiple regression model considering the three factors explained 18.6% of the variance in sensitivity, and only maternal-fetal attachment was a significant predictor. The results indicate the importance of interventions to promote the bond of pregnant women with their babies, which may even minimize possible harmful effects of postpartum depression on mother-child interaction.

Systematic review of predictors of infant care competence among women with postpartum depression

“…The majority of the papers were completed in Europe (England, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Scotland; n = 8) [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42] and eight studies were completed in the United States. [43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50] The sample further consisted of two papers from South America (Brazil); [13,34] two studies from Australia; [33,51] and one paper from Asia (Singapore). [20] The sample of mothers ranged in ethnicity, marital status, and parity.…”

“…A variety of study designs and scales were used to describe how PPD relates to ICC. Studies involved tests of interventions including longitudinal designs (n = 9), [11,35,[37][38][39][40][41][42]44] randomized controlled trials (n = 2), [43,45] observational (n = 1), [48] correlational study designs (n = 2), [13,50] cohort studies (n = 1), [51] non-randomized longitudinal descriptive approach (n = 1), [36] and cross-sectional and longitudinal studies (n =1). [49] Among the longitudinal study designs, measurement of ICC included videos to observe performed ICC (n = 2).…”

“…[49] Among the longitudinal study designs, measurement of ICC included videos to observe performed ICC (n = 2). [13,42,44] Three studies used a combination of video observations as well as questionnaires to assess perceptions of ICC. [35,38,43] Other studies (n = 4) [36,39,49] administered questionnaires to the mothers and/or conducted interviews.…”

“…[53] One study used the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) [44] while another study used the CES-D to assess for depression. [35] Three studies used the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) [13,34,43] and one used the BDI and the Depression Adjective Check List (DACL) combined to screen for depression. [47]…”

“…PPD is well known to interfere with performed ICC, especially maternal-infant interaction quality, as the symptoms of PPD often render mothers less sensitive and attentive towards infant cues. [13] Such reduced ICC can be damaging to infant and child development, [14] including long-term emotional and cognitive deficits as well as health problems. [11,15] Moreover, even when mothers' depressive symptoms resolve, the quality of interactions with children remain disrupted, [14] which likely overlaps with how mothers perceive or perform ICC.…”