Tavares Inês M, Nobre Pedro J, Heiman Julia R, Rosen Natalie O
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Canada.
Center for Psychology at the University of Porto, Portugal.
Body Image. 2023 Mar;44:187-196. doi: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2023.01.002. Epub 2023 Jan 26.
Pregnancy and postpartum are associated with declines in body image. Research on postpartum body image focuses almost exclusively on the person who gave birth and studies examining protective factors for postpartum body image are scarce. We assessed 257 new-parent couples from mid-pregnancy to 6-months postpartum to examine whether mindfulness-a recognized contributor to psychological well-being-buffered against declines in both partners' perceptions of mothers' body. Mothers' positive body image and partners' perception of mothers' body were collected at four time-points (second and third trimester; 3- and 6-months postpartum); both partners' mindfulness facets-observing, describing, awareness acting, non-judgement, and non-reactivity-were assessed in the second trimester. Dyadic latent growth curve modeling revealed that both partners' perceptions of mothers' body were positively correlated at all moments; however, mothers' positive body image worsened over time, whereas partners' perception of mothers' body remained stable. Mindfulness facets were positively associated with mothers' positive body image (observe, describe, and non-judging) and fathers' (non-judging) perceptions of mothers' body in pregnancy. Mothers' mindfulness facets (acting with awareness, non-judging) were associated with subsequent trajectories of their own body image. By identifying mindfulness facets as targetable protective factors during pregnancy, these findings have implications for future research and interventions focused on perinatal body image.
怀孕和产后与身体形象的下降有关。关于产后身体形象的研究几乎完全集中在分娩者身上，而研究产后身体形象保护因素的研究很少。我们评估了257对新为人父母的夫妇，从怀孕中期到产后6个月，以研究正念（一种公认的有助于心理健康的因素）是否能缓冲伴侣双方对母亲身体认知的下降。在四个时间点（孕中期和孕晚期；产后3个月和6个月）收集了母亲的积极身体形象和伴侣对母亲身体的认知；在孕中期评估了伴侣双方的正念方面——观察、描述、有意识行动、不评判和不反应。二元潜在增长曲线模型显示，伴侣双方对母亲身体的认知在所有时刻都呈正相关；然而，母亲的积极身体形象随时间恶化，而伴侣对母亲身体的认知保持稳定。正念方面与母亲的积极身体形象（观察、描述和不评判）以及父亲在孕期对母亲身体的认知（不评判）呈正相关。母亲的正念方面（有意识行动、不评判）与她们自身身体形象的后续轨迹有关。通过将正念方面确定为孕期可靶向的保护因素，这些发现对未来专注于围产期身体形象的研究和干预具有启示意义。
