Maternal perinatal depression, anxiety, fear of birth, and perception of infants’ negative affectivity at three months

ABSTRACT

The present study aimed to investigate whether a mother’s anxiety, depression, prenatal perception of childbirth, and experience with delivery, assessed from pregnancy to three months postpartum, were associated with her perception of her infant’s negative affectivity (NA). The participant sample was composed of 76 primiparous mothers and their healthy babies (58% boys, 42% girls). During pregnancy, mothers independently filled out the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), and the Wijma Delivery Expectancy/Experience Questionnaires (W-DEQ) version A. One month after giving birth, the mothers filled out the W-DEQ version B. Finally, three months after giving birth, they completed the EPDS, the STAI, and the four Infant Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ-R) scales of NA. Linear regression analyses showed that perinatal FoB, trait anxiety, and depression were associated with a maternal perception of higher infant NA. Studies on perinatal parental health and child outcomes should include assessments of the relation between anxiety during pregnancy and postpartum depression in order to prevent any negative impacts on the temperaments of children.

KEYWORDS:

• Perinatal maternal depression
• perinatal maternal anxiety
• fear of birth
• infant temperament
• infant negative affectivity

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Prof. Gian Benedetto Melis, and Dr. Francesca Congia of the University General Hospital Monserrato of Cagliari, Italy; Dr. Silvana Sanna and Dr. Clara Corda of the Local Health Family Counseling Services (ASL 8) of Cagliari, Italy; and, finally, we would like to thank the families who made this study possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by grants from [PRIN 2013/2016 – 20107JZAF4]: ‘Maternal and paternal perinatal depression as risk factors for infant affect regulation development: Evaluation of effects and early interventions.’ Scientific Coordinator: Loredana Lucarelli, University of Cagliari Italian Ministry for Education, University and Research (MIUR).