Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3, 6525 HR, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Clinical Child & Family Studies, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Hum Nat. 2023 Mar;34(1):25-45. doi: 10.1007/s12110-023-09440-8. Epub 2023 Feb 8.
Support from grandparents plays a role in mothers' perinatal mental health. However, previous research on maternal mental health has mainly focused on influences of partner support or general social support and neglected the roles of grandparents. In this narrative review and meta-analysis, the scientific evidence on the association between grandparental support and maternal perinatal mental health is reviewed. Searches in PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, and PsycINFO yielded 11 empirical studies on N = 3381 participants, reporting on 35 effect sizes. A multilevel approach to meta-analysis was applied to test the association between grandparental support and maternal mental health. The results showed a small, statistically significant association (r = .16; 95% CI: 0.09-0.25). A moderator test indicated that the association was stronger for studies reporting on support from the maternal grandmother in particular (r = .23; 95% CI: 0.06-0.29). Our findings suggest that involved grandparents, in particular mother's own mother, constitute a protective factor for the development of maternal postpartum mental health problems. These findings have clear implications for interventions. Future studies should examine whether stimulating high-quality support from grandparents is a fruitful avenue for enhancing maternal postpartum mental health.
祖辈的支持对母亲围产期的心理健康起着一定的作用。然而，之前关于产妇心理健康的研究主要集中在伴侣支持或一般社会支持的影响上，而忽视了祖辈的作用。在本次叙述性综述和荟萃分析中，我们回顾了祖辈支持与产妇围产期心理健康之间关联的科学证据。在 PubMed、EMBASE、MEDLINE、Scopus 和 PsycINFO 中进行了检索，共获得了 11 项针对 N = 3381 名参与者的实证研究，报告了 35 个效应量。采用多层次荟萃分析方法来检验祖辈支持与产妇心理健康之间的关联。结果表明，两者之间存在着小而显著的关联（r =.16；95%CI：0.09-0.25）。一个调节变量测试表明，特别是报告来自产妇祖母的支持时，这种关联更强（r =.23；95%CI：0.06-0.29）。我们的研究结果表明，参与其中的祖辈，特别是母亲自己的母亲，是母亲产后心理健康问题发展的保护因素。这些研究结果对干预措施具有明确的意义。未来的研究应探讨是否刺激来自祖辈的高质量支持是增强产妇产后心理健康的有效途径。
