Støve Laura Lærkegård, Ertmann Ruth Kirk, Siersma Volkert Dirk, de Voss Sarah Strøyer, Smith-Nielsen Johanne
Centre of Excellence in Early Intervention and Family Studies, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 2A, Copenhagen K, DK-1353, Denmark.
The Research Unit for General Practice, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, Copenhagen K, DK-1353, Denmark.
Arch Womens Ment Health. 2025 Jan 6. doi: 10.1007/s00737-024-01550-1.
This study investigated whether maternal antenatal attachment (MAA) in the third trimester was associated with self-reported problematic infant crying at eight weeks postnatally and explored links with postnatal depressive symptoms.
A prospective cohort study was conducted with 1287 pregnant participants in Danish general practice. MAA was measured using the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS) in the third trimester. Both postnatal depressive symptoms and infant crying problems were assessed eight weeks postnatally, using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and maternal reports, respectively.
Low MAAS quality scores in the third trimester were initially associated with a 51% increased risk of reporting problematic infant crying at eight weeks, but this effect disappeared after adjusting for physical and mental health variables (e.g., chronic disease, anxiety, and depression symptoms) during pregnancy. No significant effects were found for MAAS intensity or total score. Low MAAS quality and overall MAAS scores were associated with an increased risk of scoring above cutoff on the EPDS. High levels of postnatal depressive symptoms at eight weeks significantly increased the likelihood of reporting problematic infant crying. Low MAAS scores combined with high levels of postnatal depressive symptoms did not increase the risk of problematic infant crying compared to low levels of depressive symptoms with low MAAS scores.
Our findings highlight the importance of considering maternal mental health when parents report infant crying problems postnatally. Furthermore, our results demonstrate that poor MAA in pregnancy is not necessarily linked with parental report of problematic infant crying after birth.
本研究调查了孕晚期的母亲产前依恋（MAA）是否与产后八周自我报告的婴儿哭闹问题有关，并探讨了其与产后抑郁症状的联系。
在丹麦普通诊所对1287名孕妇进行了一项前瞻性队列研究。在孕晚期使用母亲产前依恋量表（MAAS）测量MAA。产后八周分别使用爱丁堡产后抑郁量表（EPDS）和母亲报告评估产后抑郁症状和婴儿哭闹问题。
孕晚期MAAS质量得分低最初与产后八周报告婴儿哭闹问题的风险增加51%相关，但在调整孕期的身心健康变量（如慢性病、焦虑和抑郁症状）后，这种影响消失。未发现MAAS强度或总分有显著影响。MAAS质量得分低和MAAS总分与EPDS得分高于临界值的风险增加相关。产后八周高水平的抑郁症状显著增加了报告婴儿哭闹问题的可能性。与低MAAS得分和低水平抑郁症状相比，低MAAS得分与高水平产后抑郁症状相结合并未增加婴儿哭闹问题的风险。
我们的研究结果强调了在父母报告产后婴儿哭闹问题时考虑母亲心理健康的重要性。此外，我们的结果表明，孕期不良的MAA不一定与产后父母报告的婴儿哭闹问题有关。
