Psychology, Roanoke College, 221 College Lane, Salem, VA, 24153, USA.
Family Life, Brigham Young University, Utah, USA.
Matern Child Health J. 2023 Dec;27(12):2175-2184. doi: 10.1007/s10995-023-03776-4. Epub 2023 Sep 28.
Using person-centered analyses, this study examined the trajectories of women's early postnatal adaptation and explored whether there were differences in their trajectories based on women's status as a first-time or more experienced mother.
Data were collected from women (N = 137; M = 28.6 years, SD = 4.49; 48.2% first-time mothers) at 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-weeks postpartum. At each wave of data collection, mothers reported on their parenting self-efficacy, parenting satisfaction, anxiety, parenting stress, and depressive feelings.
The creation of an amalgamated measure of postnatal adaptation demonstrated acceptable fit. Latent class growth analysis revealed four distinct trajectories of postnatal adaptation; two revealed stability across the early postnatal period and two had relative stability except for a change between weeks four to six. Women's parity was not associated with differences in their trajectories.
These findings reiterate the importance of collecting data from women in the early postnatal period and identifying if a woman is struggling in those early weeks, as the women in our sample demonstrated relative stability in their postnatal adaptation across the first eight weeks. Furthermore, the findings suggest that work should be taken to dismantle the commonly held belief that parenting is "easier" after having already navigated the early postnatal period with an infant once before.
本研究采用以人为中心的分析方法，考察了女性产后早期适应的轨迹，并探讨了初产妇和经产妇在轨迹上是否存在差异。
数据来自产后 2 周、4 周、6 周和 8 周的 137 名女性（M=28.6 岁，SD=4.49；48.2%为初产妇）。在每个数据收集阶段，母亲报告其育儿自我效能感、育儿满意度、焦虑、育儿压力和抑郁感。
创建了一个产后适应综合测量指标，具有可接受的拟合度。潜在类别增长分析显示，产后适应有四种不同的轨迹；两种轨迹在产后早期保持稳定，两种轨迹除了在第 4 周到第 6 周之间发生变化外相对稳定。产妇的产次与轨迹差异无关。
这些发现再次强调了在产后早期阶段从女性收集数据的重要性，并确定女性是否在早期阶段挣扎，因为我们样本中的女性在最初的八周内表现出产后适应的相对稳定性。此外，研究结果表明，应该努力打破普遍存在的观念，即一旦与婴儿度过了产后早期阶段，育儿就会“更容易”。
