Department of Psychology, University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada.
Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
BMC Psychiatry. 2019 Mar 21;19(1):94. doi: 10.1186/s12888-019-2067-x.
Unwanted, intrusive thoughts of harm-related to the infant are reported by the vast majority of new mothers, with half of all new mothers reporting unwanted, intrusive thoughts of harming their infant on purpose. Thoughts of intentional harm, in particular, are distressing to women, their partners and the people who care for them. While maternal, unwanted and intrusive thoughts of infant-related harm are known to be associated with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and depression, preliminary evidence suggests that they are not associated with an increased risk of harm to infants. Perinatal care providers and policy makers, as well as new mothers and their partners require evidence-based information in order to respond appropriately to these types of thoughts. The purpose of this research is to address important gaps regarding the (a) prevalence and characteristics of intrusive, unwanted thoughts of baby-related harm, (b) their association (or lack thereof) with child abuse, and (c) the prevalence and course of obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression in the perinatal period.
Participant were 763 English-speaking women and recruited during pregnancy. In this province-wide study in British Columbia, participants were recruited proportionally from hospitals, city centers and rural communities between January 23, 2014 and September 09, 2016. Participants were administered online questionnaires and diagnostic interviews over the phone at 33-weeks gestation, 7-weeks postpartum and 4-months postpartum. The study assessed intrusive and unwanted thoughts of harm related to the infant, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and major depressive episode (MDE) disorders and symptomatology, sleep, medical outcomes, parenting attitudes, and infant abuse.
There is a scarcity of literature concerning maternal unwanted, intrusive, postpartum thoughts of infant-related harm and their relationship to child harming behaviors, OCD and depression. This longitudinal cohort study was designed to build on the existing research base to ensure that policy developers, child protection workers and health-care providers have the guidance they need to respond appropriately to the disclosure of infant-related harm thoughts. Thus, its main goals will be to investigate whether intrusive postpartum thoughts of infant-related harm are a risk factor for child abuse or the development of OCD.
绝大多数新妈妈都报告了与婴儿有关的、不想要的、侵入性的伤害想法，其中一半的新妈妈报告说，她们不想要的、侵入性的伤害婴儿的想法是故意的。特别是，伤害意图的想法令女性、她们的伴侣和照顾她们的人感到痛苦。虽然已知与强迫症 (OCD) 和抑郁症有关，但初步证据表明，它们与婴儿相关伤害的风险增加无关。围产期护理提供者和政策制定者，以及新妈妈及其伴侣需要基于证据的信息，以便对这些类型的想法做出适当的反应。本研究的目的是解决以下方面的重要差距：（a）侵入性、不想要的婴儿相关伤害的想法的流行率和特征；（b）它们与虐待儿童的关系（或缺乏关系）；（c）围产期强迫症和抑郁症的流行率和病程。
763 名讲英语的女性参与了这项研究，她们在怀孕期间被招募。在不列颠哥伦比亚省的这项全省范围内的研究中，参与者是在 2014 年 1 月 23 日至 2016 年 9 月 9 日期间，从医院、市中心和农村社区按比例招募的。在怀孕 33 周、产后 7 周和产后 4 个月时，参与者通过在线问卷和电话接受了诊断访谈。该研究评估了与婴儿有关的侵入性和不想要的伤害想法、强迫症 (OCD) 和重度抑郁发作 (MDE) 障碍和症状、睡眠、医疗结果、育儿态度和婴儿虐待。
关于产后母亲不想要的、侵入性的、与婴儿有关的伤害想法及其与伤害儿童行为、强迫症和抑郁症的关系，文献很少。这项纵向队列研究旨在建立在现有研究基础上，以确保政策制定者、儿童保护工作者和医疗保健提供者拥有他们所需的指导，以便对婴儿伤害相关想法的披露做出适当反应。因此，它的主要目标将是调查产后与婴儿有关的侵入性伤害想法是否是虐待儿童或强迫症发展的风险因素。
