Pajulo Marjaterttu, Helenius Hans, Mayes Linda
University of Tampere, Finland.
University of Turku, Finland.
Infant Ment Health J. 2006 May;27(3):229-250. doi: 10.1002/imhj.20090.
The aim of the present study was to explore whether sociodemographic and pregnancy factors are associated with the content of prenatal maternal representations about the child and maternity. The study was designed as a questionnaire-based, anonymous, cross-sectional study. Participants were 391 pregnant women in routine follow-up visits enrolled from 14 maternity care centers in Southwestern Finland. Measures consisted of self-report questionnaires for background data and adjective lists (i.e., semantic differentials) regarding the mother's prenatal view of this child, herself, child's father, and own mother-as-mother. Of the nine background factors explored in this study, two factors had significant associations with the content of prenatal representations: a number of children under 7 years of age in the household and (b) planning of the current pregnancy. Prenatal maternal representations about the child, self, partner, and own mother were more negative in content, especially if the mother already had two to three children under 7 years of age, if this pregnancy was not planned, or both. Background factors which did not have significant associations with the content of any prenatal representations included social class, previous abortions, duration of gestation, and somatic problems in this pregnancy. The results are important considering the previous research findings on the role of prenatal representations for the quality of postnatal maternal interactive behavior with the child, intergenerational transmission of attachment security, and developmental outcome of the child later, even in school age. The factors found in this study to have significance for the content of prenatal representations are routinely asked in all maternity care practice and do not need any arrangements to be explored. The results suggest that professionals working in maternity care should pay more attention to the subgroups of pregnant women with many small children in the family and/or whose pregnancy is unplanned. Their need for support in the relationship with this particular child should be especially attended to.
本研究的目的是探讨社会人口统计学因素和妊娠因素是否与产前母亲对孩子及母性的认知内容相关。该研究设计为基于问卷的匿名横断面研究。参与者为芬兰西南部14个产科护理中心纳入的391名进行常规随访的孕妇。测量方法包括用于收集背景数据的自填式问卷，以及关于母亲对腹中胎儿、自己、孩子父亲以及自己作为母亲的产前看法的形容词列表（即语义差异量表）。在本研究探讨的九个背景因素中，有两个因素与产前认知内容存在显著关联：家庭中7岁以下子女的数量以及本次妊娠的计划性。产前母亲对孩子、自己、伴侣以及自己母亲的认知内容更消极，尤其是当母亲已经有两到三个7岁以下的孩子、本次妊娠属于意外怀孕，或者二者皆有时。与任何产前认知内容均无显著关联的背景因素包括社会阶层、既往流产史、妊娠时长以及本次妊娠中的躯体问题。考虑到先前关于产前认知对产后母亲与孩子互动行为质量、依恋安全感的代际传递以及孩子日后（甚至学龄期）发育结果的作用的研究发现，这些结果具有重要意义。本研究中发现对产前认知内容具有重要影响的因素在所有产科护理实践中都会常规询问，无需进行任何特别安排来探究。结果表明，从事产科护理工作的专业人员应更加关注家中有多个年幼子女和/或意外怀孕的孕妇亚组。应特别关注她们在与这个特定孩子的关系中对支持的需求。
