The more things change, the more things stay the same: maternal attitudes 3 to 18 months postpartum

Abstract

Despite general stability, different maternal attitudes related to different sets of variables. These patterns of attitudes in relation to relevant variables are discussed in terms of the literature on self-efficacy and gender roles, with important implications for clinical interventions.

Maternal perceptions of paternal investment are associated with relationship satisfaction and breastfeeding duration in humans.

“…These results support the idea of a "critical period" for father involvement to affect mother's relationship satisfaction, where early satisfaction with father involvement affects later relationship satisfaction, but later satisfaction with father involvement does not "rescue" the mother's relationship satisfaction. Similarly, we previously found a "critical period" in the first 6 months postpartum to affect change in maternal attitudes on self-efficacy and maternal worries (Cost et al, 2016). Some previous work supports the associations between father involvement and longer-term relationship satisfaction.…”

“…We tested three hypotheses. First, based on previous findings indicating that mothers experienced decreased relationship satisfaction in the postpartum and that mothers also have unmet expectations of father involvement in the postpartum, we hypothesized that the negative association between breastfeeding at 3 months postpartum and relationship satisfaction at 6 months postpartum (Cost et al, 2016) would be mediated by mothers' dissatisfaction with father involvement at 6 months postpartum, and that this mediation would depend on parity. Second, based on the idea that the transition to parenthood is a developmental period for the mother (Hoekzema et al, 2017) and subject to contextual factors (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2006), we hypothesized that mothers' satisfaction with father involvement at 6 months postpartum would predict long-term relationship satisfaction at 24 months postpartum through both satisfaction with father involvement at 18 months and relationship satisfaction at 12 months postpartum.…”

Once and Again

“…If the value at 6 months was missing, it was estimated by the value measured at 3 months. The stability for the CAQ has been demonstrated in a previous paper (Cost et al 2016). The mean CAQ scores were used as mediators in the association between maternal childhood experiences and maternal parenting stress.…”

“…The effects of maternal depression on offspring behavior are probably also mediated through maternal parenting style. For instance, maternal depression has been linked to increased levels of harsh and inconsistent parenting behaviors and attachment problems (Santona et al 2015) complemented by lower levels of maternal warmth, emotional expression, and playful interactions (Lovejoy et al 2000); changes in maternal attitudes (Cost et al 2016); and a variety of other disturbances in motherchild interaction patterns (Field 2010), including shorter breastfeeding duration (Jonas et al 2013).…”

“…At 6 months postpartum a mother might still be adapting to the new situation, in which higher levels of depression could result in a faster depletion of affective and cognitive resources, resulting in more stress related to being a parent, which is a cognitive and affective task. Indeed, mothers suffering from depression demonstrate more negative and disengaged parenting behaviors in addition to less-positive interactions with their children (Lovejoy et al 2000), and also alterations in maternal attitudes and mother-infant interactions (Cost et al 2016;Fleming et al 1988). Hence, mothers who experienced childhood maltreatment in their family environment and who show early signs of depression could benefit from psychotherapeutic treatment and interventions increasing mental well-being, supportive parenting patterns, and secure mother-child attachment.…”