Department of Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2023 Apr;26(2):201-209. doi: 10.1007/s00737-023-01299-z. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
The current study investigated the extent to which interparental support reduced pregnancy stress and subsequent postpartum bonding impairments with infant. We hypothesized that receiving higher quality partner support would be associated with decreased maternal pregnancy-related concerns, and less maternal and paternal pregnancy stress which, in turn, would predict fewer parent-infant bonding impairments. One hundred fifty-seven cohabiting couples completed semi-structured interviews and questionnaires once during pregnancy and twice postpartum. Path analyses with tests of mediation were employed to test our hypotheses. Higher quality support received by mothers was associated with lower maternal pregnancy stress which, in turn, predicted fewer mother-infant bonding impairments. An indirect pathway of equal magnitude was observed for fathers. Dyadic pathways also emerged such that higher quality support received by fathers was associated with lower maternal pregnancy stress which reduced mother-infant bonding impairments. Similarly, higher quality support received by mothers reduced paternal pregnancy stress and subsequent father-infant bonding impairments. Hypothesized effects reaching statistical significance (p < .05) were small to moderate in magnitude. These findings have important theoretical and clinical implications in demonstrating the critical role of both receiving and providing high-quality interparental support to reduce pregnancy stress and subsequent postpartum bonding impairments for mothers and fathers. Results also highlight the utility of investigating maternal mental health in the couple context.
本研究旨在探讨父母间支持对减少孕妇压力和随后母婴依恋障碍的影响。我们假设，获得更高质量的伴侣支持与减少与怀孕相关的母亲担忧、减少母亲和父亲的怀孕压力有关，而后者反过来又与较少的母婴依恋障碍有关。157 对同居夫妇在怀孕期间完成了一次半结构化访谈和问卷调查，并在产后两次完成。采用路径分析和中介检验来检验我们的假设。母亲获得的更高质量的支持与较低的母亲怀孕压力有关，而后者又与较少的母婴依恋障碍有关。父亲也存在类似的间接途径。还出现了二元途径，即父亲获得的更高质量的支持与母亲怀孕压力降低有关，从而减少母婴依恋障碍。同样，母亲获得的更高质量的支持也降低了父亲的怀孕压力和随后的父亲-婴儿依恋障碍。达到统计学意义（p <.05）的假设效应在数量上属于小到中等。这些发现具有重要的理论和临床意义，表明接受和提供高质量的父母间支持对于减少母亲和父亲的怀孕压力以及随后的产后母婴依恋障碍至关重要。研究结果还强调了在夫妻关系中研究产妇心理健康的效用。
