Department of Educational and Counselling Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Hôpital en Santé Mentale Rivière-des-Prairies, Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux du Nord-de-I'lle-de-Montréal (CIUSSS-NIM), Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
J Clin Sleep Med. 2021 Jun 1;17(6):1279-1285. doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9188.
To investigate whether the interaction between infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms is associated with the degree to which mothers perceive infant sleep to be problematic at 6 months postpartum, independent of infant sleep and sociodemographic factors.
Infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms were assessed in a sample of 59 mother-infant dyads at 6 months postpartum using standardized measures. Mothers reported the degree to which they perceived their infant's sleep to be problematic via an item composite of the Sleep Practices Questionnaire. Nocturnal infant sleep variables (duration, number of awakenings) were retrieved from a 2-week infant sleep diary (maternal report).
There was a significant interaction between infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms in predicting mothers' perceived extent of infant sleep problems. Simple slope analysis showed that high levels of depression were related to higher maternal perception of infant sleep problem scores only among mothers of infants with high levels of negative affectivity. Moreover, infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms positively predicted perception scores after adjustment for infant sleep, maternal age, and parity (P < .05).
The current study provides evidence that high levels of maternal depression combined with high levels of infant negative affectivity may contribute to mothers' perceptions of infant sleep problems, independent of infant sleep duration and awakenings. These findings highlight the importance for pediatricians and other health professionals to consider infant temperament in conjunction with mothers' depressive symptoms when addressing mothers' concerns about infant sleep problems.
探究婴儿负性情绪与产妇抑郁症状之间的相互作用是否与母亲在产后 6 个月时感知婴儿睡眠问题的程度有关，而与婴儿睡眠和社会人口因素无关。
在产后 6 个月时，通过标准化测量，对 59 对母婴对婴儿负性情绪和产妇抑郁症状进行评估。母亲通过睡眠习惯问卷的项目组合报告她们感知婴儿睡眠的程度。通过两周婴儿睡眠日记（母亲报告）获取夜间婴儿睡眠变量（持续时间、觉醒次数）。
在预测母亲感知婴儿睡眠问题的严重程度方面，婴儿负性情绪和产妇抑郁症状之间存在显著的交互作用。简单斜率分析表明，仅在婴儿负性情绪水平较高的母亲中，高水平的抑郁与更高的母亲感知婴儿睡眠问题得分有关。此外，在调整婴儿睡眠、母亲年龄和产次后，婴儿负性情绪和产妇抑郁症状对感知得分有积极预测作用（P<.05）。
本研究提供了证据表明，高水平的产妇抑郁加上高水平的婴儿负性情绪可能导致母亲对婴儿睡眠问题的感知，而与婴儿的睡眠时间和觉醒次数无关。这些发现强调了儿科医生和其他健康专业人员在解决母亲对婴儿睡眠问题的担忧时，需要考虑婴儿气质与母亲抑郁症状相结合的重要性。
