Early mother–infant interaction: associations with the close relationships and mental health of the mother

Abstract

The present study examined the association between a woman's close relationships and mental health and the quality of her maternal behaviour in early mother–infant interaction. A total of 131 mothers and their infants participated in the study. The quality of the mother's childhood relationship with her own mother and her marital relationship were investigated in a semi‐structured interview and, as a part of the interview, the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV (SCID) was used to assess her mental health. Mother–infant interaction was videotaped at 8–11 weeks of the infant's age, and scored using the Global Rating Scale for Mother–Infant Interaction. The mother's childhood relationship with her mother was significantly related to her own interactive and affective behaviour with her infant. A poor, disengaged marital relationship was also associated with poorer interactive behaviour but only among mothers with mental health problems. Thus the mother's close relationships had an effect on maternal behaviour; however, maternal perinatal psychopathology per se was not related to maternal behaviour at 2 months of the infant's age.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank all the primary health care professionals involved in the project for their commitment and care, all the research staff, and of course the families and children. The first author was financially supported by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation and Tampere University Hospital Research Fund which are gratefully acknowledged.