Rumination in dysphoric mothers negatively affects mother–infant interactions

Tester-Jones, Michelle; Karl, Anke; Watkins, Ed; O’Mahen, Heather

doi:10.1111/jcpp.12633

Cited by 25 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…It is possible that some mothers may have the capacity to provide sensitive care for short intervals but struggle to maintain sensitivity across longer interactions with their infants. Although previous studies have found that maternal sensitivity decreases over time in the context of increasing infant distress during laboratory-based stressors Conradt & Ablow, 2010;Tester-Jones et al, 2016), no study has previously investigated parents' ability to sustain sensitivity during naturalistic play interactions with their infants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…These effects are also apparent among postpartum women (Insana, Williams, & Montgomery-Downs, 2013;Mcbean, Kinsey, Montgomery-downs, & Virginia, 2016;McBean & Montgomery-Downs, 2013;Swain, O'Hara, Starr, & Gorman, 1997). In the broader literature on the antecedents of caregiving behavior, maladaptive functioning in each of these domains has been linked to less positive maternal behavior toward children (Crandall, Deater-Deckard, & Riley, 2015;Leerkes, 2011;Sturge-Apple, Jones, & Suor, 2017;Tester-Jones, Karl, Watkins, & O'Mahen, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Mothers' postpartum sleep disturbance is associated with the ability to sustain sensitivity toward infants

et al. 2020

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Infancy is a period of rapid development when the quality of caregiving behavior may be particularly consequential for children's long-term functioning. During this critical period for caregiving behavior, parents experience changes in their sleep that may affect their ability to provide sensitive care. The current study investigated the association of mothers' sleep disturbance with both levels and trajectories of maternal sensitivity during interactions with their infants. At 18 weeks postpartum, mothers and their infants were observed during a home-based ten-minute "free play" interaction. Mothers' nighttime sleep was objectively measured using actigraphy and subjectively measured using sleep diaries. Maternal sensitivity was coded in two-minute intervals in order to characterize changes in sensitivity across the free play interaction. We used exploratory factor analysis to reduce the dimensionality of the objective and subjective measures of mothers' sleep, identifying a subjective sleep disturbance and an objective sleep continuity factor. Using multi-level modeling, we found that mothers with poorer objective sleep continuity evidenced decreasing sensitivity toward their infants across the interaction. Mothers' self-reports of sleep disturbance were not associated with maternal sensitivity. Although future research is necessary to identify the mechanisms that may explain the observed association between poor sleep continuity and the inability to sustain sensitivity toward infants, mothers' postpartum sleep continuity may be one factor to consider when designing interventions to improve the quality of caregiving.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mothers' postpartum sleep disturbance is associated with the ability to sustain sensitivity toward infants

et al. 2020

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“…Apart from the negative association between rumination and parental mental health, DeJong, Fox, and Stein (2016) suggested that rumination can affect a mother's responsiveness to her infant due to reduced cognitive control and cognitive biases. Indeed, studies have found that maternal rumination is associated with reduced maternal responsiveness (Stein, Lehtonen, Harvey, Nicol-Harper, & Craske, 2009;Stein et al, 2012) and sensitivity (Tester-Jones, Karl, Watkins, & O'Mahen, 2017) during motherinfant interactions.…”

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confidence: 99%

Does fathers’ and mothers’ rumination predict emotional symptoms in their children?

Psychogiou

Moberly

Parry

et al. 2017

British J Clinic Psychol

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Rumination is prevalent among individuals with depression, but to date no studies have examined the possible role of mothers' and fathers' brooding rumination in predicting children's emotional symptoms. Fathers' brooding rumination was positively associated with children's emotional symptoms over time when controlling for mothers' rumination and other important characteristics. Parental rumination might be a promising target for both prevention and intervention strategies for parents with depression and their children. The findings of this study could inform parenting interventions (e.g., educate parents about the possible effects of rumination on family interactions and children's outcomes, help parents notice when they ruminate, teach them to replace rumination with more adaptive strategies). The findings should be interpreted with caution. The study relied on self-reports, and therefore, the data are subject to shared method variance which may have artificially inflated associations between parent and child outcomes. The sample consisted of well-educated parents, and therefore, the findings should be generalized to other populations with caution.

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“…Contrary to our expectations, analyses revealed that mothers with a strong tendency to engage in RNT displayed contingent behavior as frequently as mothers with a weak tendency to engage in RNT. These findings provide novel insights insofar as previous studies (Stein et al, 2012;Tester-Jones et al, 2017) assessed the effect of RNT on mother-infant interaction while mothers did versus did not engage in RNT at the time of the assessment. These previous studies left open the question of whether RNT, if it happens frequently, leaves an enduring trace in the quality of how mothers respond to their infants' communicative signals.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…Again, this suggests that RNT might influence parenting behavior in women affected by mental disorders. Of note, however, a recent study by Tester-Jones, Karl, Watkins, and O'Mahen (2017) suggested that RNT is a causal factor for changes in mother–infant interactions independent of the diagnostic status of a mother. In this study, dysphoric and non-dysphoric mothers were either induced to engage in RNT or to think about a recent concern that they had managed to resolve.…”

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confidence: 99%

The course of maternal repetitive negative thinking at the transition to motherhood and early mother–infant interactions: Is there a link?

et al. 2018

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Potential long-term associations between repetitive negative thinking and mother-infant interactions have received little attention. The current longitudinal study including N = 62 mother-infant dyads investigated both maternal and infant behavior in face-to-face interactions as a function of pre- and postnatal maternal repetitive negative thinking when infants were aged around 4 months. We hypothesised that mothers with a strong tendency to engage in repetitive negative thinking would react less contingently to their infants’ behavior compared to mothers with a weak tendency to engage in repetitive negative thinking. Furthermore, we hypothesised that infants of mothers high in repetitive negative thinking would differ from infants of mothers low in repetitive negative thinking in their reactions in the still-face task. Contrary to expectations, there was no difference in maternal contingency between mothers high versus low in repetitive negative thinking. However, infant behavior in the still-face task differed as a function of maternal repetitive negative thinking status. Specifically, infants of mothers high in repetitive negative thinking spent more time with object/environment engagement than infants of mothers who were low in repetitive negative thinking, and they also protested less frequently. These findings are discussed in terms of their relevance for the intergenerational transmission of mental disorders.

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Rumination in dysphoric mothers negatively affects mother–infant interactions

Cited by 25 publications

References 36 publications

Mothers' postpartum sleep disturbance is associated with the ability to sustain sensitivity toward infants

Mothers' postpartum sleep disturbance is associated with the ability to sustain sensitivity toward infants

Does fathers’ and mothers’ rumination predict emotional symptoms in their children?

The course of maternal repetitive negative thinking at the transition to motherhood and early mother–infant interactions: Is there a link?

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