IFB AdiposityDiseases, Leipzig University Medical Center, Philipp-Rosenthal-Straße 27, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
Department of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University of Leipzig, Semmelweisstraße 10, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2019 Aug 5;19(1):278. doi: 10.1186/s12884-019-2426-0.
After delivery, some women experience impairment of their mother-infant bonding (MIB), which can lead to long-term disturbances of the mother-child relationship and the child's social-emotional development. Little is known about the association between early maternal bonding problems and mothers' own adverse childhood experiences, even though the hypothesis of the intergenerational transmission of caregiving indicates continuity in parenting quality across generations. Therefore, the current study aimed at examining the relationship between maternal childhood maltreatment and postpartum MIB, controlling for the role of postpartum mental health.
From February 2014 to March 2015, 725 women completed self-report measures 2 months postpartum. Maternal childhood maltreatment was assessed with the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, postpartum depression with the Revised Beck Depression Inventory, postpartum anxiety with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, and postpartum MIB with the abridged version of the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire. Data were analysed using a hierarchical regression analysis.
Almost 46% of the included women reported at least one type of childhood maltreatment with emotional neglect being most prevalent. 13% displayed at least mild postpartum depressive symptomatology and 20% scored above the 75 percentile for postpartum anxiety. In the final regression model, which explained 29% of variance, higher severity of maternal emotional neglect in childhood, higher levels of postpartum depression and higher education were significantly related to more postpartum MIB impairment. In contrast, higher severity of maternal physical neglect was significantly associated with less postpartum MIB impairment.
This study is the first to explore the relationship between diverse types of maternal childhood maltreatment and postpartum MIB, adjusting for postpartum mental health. Maternal experiences of emotional neglect and postpartum depressive symptoms could serve as indicators to identify and support mothers with heightened risk for bonding problems, but results need to be validated in longitudinal studies.
产后，一些女性会出现母婴结合障碍（MIB），这可能导致母婴关系长期失调和儿童的社会情感发展问题。尽管照顾的代际传递假说表明代际间的育儿质量具有连续性，但人们对早期母婴结合问题与母亲自身不良童年经历之间的关系知之甚少。因此，本研究旨在检验母亲童年期虐待与产后 MIB 的关系，同时控制产后心理健康的作用。
2014 年 2 月至 2015 年 3 月，725 名女性在产后 2 个月时完成了自我报告测量。采用童年创伤问卷评估母亲的童年期虐待，采用修订贝克抑郁量表评估产后抑郁，采用症状清单 90 修订版评估产后焦虑，采用产后结合问卷的缩短版评估产后 MIB。使用分层回归分析对数据进行分析。
大约 46%的纳入女性报告至少有一种类型的童年虐待，其中情绪忽视最为普遍。13%的女性表现出至少轻度的产后抑郁症状，20%的女性产后焦虑评分高于 75%分位数。在最终的回归模型中，解释了 29%的方差，母亲童年期情绪忽视的严重程度、产后抑郁水平和受教育程度越高，与产后 MIB 损伤程度越严重呈显著相关。相反，母亲身体忽视的严重程度与产后 MIB 损伤程度呈负相关。
本研究首次探讨了多种类型的母亲童年虐待与产后 MIB 的关系，同时调整了产后心理健康的因素。母亲的情绪忽视经历和产后抑郁症状可能成为识别和支持母婴结合问题高风险母亲的指标，但结果需要在纵向研究中进行验证。
