The impact of maternal characteristics, infant temperament and contextual factors on maternal responsiveness to infant

Social Support and Spousal Relationship Quality Improves Responsiveness among Anxious Mothers

Maternal responsiveness, a mother's ability to consistently identify infant cues and then act on them, is critical for healthy child development. A woman's social support and spousal relationship may affect responsiveness to an infant, especially among mothers with anxiety. We assessed how social support and spousal relationship quality is associated with responsiveness among anxious mothers, and if postpartum depression (PPD) moderated these associations. Cross-sectional data were collected from 2019 to 2022 in a public hospital in Pakistan from 701 women at six-weeks postpartum. Eligible women had at least mild anxiety in early- to mid- pregnancy. Linear regression analyses assessed if spousal relationship quality and social support from family and friends were associated with maternal responsiveness, measured using the Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument. Interaction terms were used to examine if PPD moderated these associations. Spousal relationship quality (B = 2.49, 95% CI: 1.48, 3.50) and social support (B = 1.07, 95% CI: 0.31, 1.83) were positively related to maternal responsiveness to the infant. Emotional support from a spouse was positively associated with responsiveness (B = 1.08, 95% CI: 0.12, 2.03 depressed; B = 2.96, 95% CI: 1.34, 4.58 non-depressed), and conflict with the spouse was negatively associated with responsiveness (B=-1.02, 95% CI: -1.94, -0.09 depressed; B=-2.87, 95% CI: -4.36, -1.37 non-depressed). However, social support was related to responsiveness only in non-depressed women (B = 2.61, 95% CI: 1.14, 4.07). While spousal relationships and social support enhance maternal responsiveness, for depressed women, spousal relationships were particularly critical. In considering maternal-infant interventions to improve child development outcomes, our study indicates the importance of supportive relationships that foster effective responsiveness.

Narrative Review of Use and Continued Relevance of the Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument

BACKGROUND

The Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument (MIRI) was developed in 2002 to measure a critical aspect of maternal-infant health. The objective of this analysis was to examine use, results, and continued relevance of the MIRI 20 years after its creation.

METHODS

For the completion of this narrative review, 5 electronic databases were accessed using key search terms. Inclusion criteria were English-language, peer-reviewed research using the MIRI. Hand searches of reference lists were conducted. Five authors performed screening, data extraction, appraisal, and summarized findings.

RESULTS

Fifteen studies were included. All studies reported an internal consistency of α > 0.70 for the MIRI. Positive correlations were reported with self-efficacy, infant temperament, and life satisfaction. Inverse relationships were reported with stress, depression, and experiential avoidance. Depressive symptomatology, life satisfaction, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and previous childcare experience were predictors of maternal responsiveness.

DISCUSSION

Maternal well-being (postpartum depression and stress) can affect maternal responsiveness. Given the pervasive disparities in maternal health and well-being, it is important to have reliable measures of the effects of those disparities. The MIRI, a valid and reliable measure, may be useful for assessing the effectiveness of interventions designed to improve infant and maternal well-being.

The Family Biorhythm: Contributions of the HPA and HPG Axes to Neuroendocrine Attunement

Objective

The vast majority of research on biobehavioral influences on development has focused on mothers and infants, whereas research on paternal biobehavioral influences remains sparse. This study aims to increase understanding of paternal influences on the biobehavioral dynamics of the family unit, using a multi-system approach.

Methods

Participants consisted of 32 predominantly high-risk families recruited during pregnancy who completed monthly questionnaires and in-home visits when infants were 4, 12, and 18 months of age. In-home visits included semi-structured interaction tasks and saliva samples for cortisol and progesterone assays.

Results

Mothers and infants, but not fathers and infants, showed adrenocortical attunement, with the strongest attunement at 18 months. Second, mothers' couple satisfaction did not significantly impact infants' cortisol levels or mother-infant cortisol attunement, but mothers' progesterone moderated the relationship between couple satisfaction and infant cortisol levels such that mothers with low couple satisfaction, but high progesterone, had infants with lower cortisol levels. Finally, mothers' and fathers' progesterone levels were attuned across the time points.

Conclusions

This is some of the first evidence of the establishment of the family biorhythm and suggests that fathers play an indirect role in facilitating mother-infant adrenocortical attunement.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40750-023-00215-0.

Daily relationships among maternal rumination, mood and bonding with infant

There is little research examining the association between maternal maladaptive emotion regulation strategies such as rumination and perceived maternal bonding and mood. This study investigated the concurrent and prospective relationship of both trait and daily rumination with daily perceived maternal bonding and mood. Ninety-three mothers of infants aged between 3 and 14 months completed a ten-day diary study investigating the relationship between daily and trait ruminative self-focus, negative affect and perceived maternal bonding, or her perceived feelings of closeness with her infant. The majority of mothers reported mild to moderate depressive symptoms. The data were analysed using Hierarchical Linear Modelling. Baseline depressive symptoms and trait rumination were each positively associated with mean levels of daily ruminative self-focus and mood over the ten-day sampling period. Bonding with infant at baseline was not associated with mean levels of daily rumination, mood or bonding over the sampling period. Concurrently, daily rumination and daily bonding were negatively correlated, after accounting for daily mood. Prospectively, lower levels of daily bonding predicted increases in daily rumination and depressive mood on the subsequent day. Interestingly, daily rumination did not predict increases in depressive mood or bonding on the subsequent day, suggesting that rumination occurred in response to perceived disruptions in feelings of closeness with the infant, but did not lead to prospective decreases in these feelings of closeness. These findings hold important implications for understanding the relationship between the mother-infant relationship, and maternal rumination and depressive mood, suggesting that disruptions in the way mothers perceive they are bonding to their infants may contribute to depressongenic processes.

Correlates of repetitive negative thinking in postnatal first time mothers

BACKGROUND

Despite the well-established role of repetitive negative thinking (RNT) in the prediction and maintenance of depression and anxiety, only minimal research to date has investigated RNT in the context of postnatal psychological adjustment.

OBJECTIVE

We examined the relationships between RNT, associated maladaptive cognitive processes, infant responsiveness and psychopathology in a sample of first-time mothers (N = 235) with babies under 12 months.

METHODS

Participants completed an online battery of measures that indexed RNT, dampening of positive affect, metacognitive beliefs about RNT, infant responsiveness, depression and anxiety symptoms.

RESULTS

As predicted, RNT was correlated with depression. Controlling for depression, RNT was associated with anxiety, dampening positive affect and positive beliefs about RNT. RNT was inversely related to maternal responsiveness, but this relationship was accounted for by depression.

CONCLUSIONS

Consistent with findings in the broader literature, RNT was associated with depression, anxiety and other unhelpful cognitive processes in the postnatal period, as well as with poor infant responsiveness. Whilst cross-sectional and preliminary, these data suggest there may be potential clinical utility in targeting RNT in first-time mothers.

Repetitive negative thinking in the perinatal period and its relationship with anxiety and depression

BACKGROUND

Rumination and worry represent two types of repetitive negative thinking (RNT), and their predictive and maintaining roles are well-established in depression and anxiety, respectively. Furthermore, there is an emerging literature on the link between RNT and psychological wellbeing in the perinatal period.

METHODS

We conducted a scoping review of studies that have investigated the relationship between RNT and perinatal depression and anxiety. We identified 87 papers eligible for inclusion in the review; they included cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, as well as treatment evaluations (pilot trials and randomised controlled trials).

RESULTS

Cross-sectional studies provided evidence of an association between RNT (i.e., rumination and worry) and depression and anxiety, in both pregnancy and postpartum. Longitudinal findings were mixed. Whilst antenatal worry consistently predicted subsequent depression and anxiety (both later in pregnancy and postpartum), rumination did not consistently predict depression. However, there was some evidence that rumination interacted with other processes to predict later psychopathology. Three randomised controlled trials evaluated whether psychological treatments reduce RNT in the perinatal period, only one of which included a clinical sample.

LIMITATIONS

No experimental investigations were eligible for inclusion in the review.

CONCLUSIONS

Further studies are needed to further our understanding of the nature and role of RNT in pregnancy and postpartum, and its consequences for maternal mental health. These include (but are not limited to) experimental investigations, studies with large clinical samples, and RCTs evaluating the effectiveness of psychological interventions targeting RNT to prevent and treat perinatal depression and anxiety.

Parent-infant interaction quality is related to preterm status and sensory processing

BACKGROUND

Parent-infant interactions provide the foundation for the development of infant socioemotional wellbeing. Preterm birth can have a substantial, and often detrimental, impact on the quality of early parent-infant interactions. Sensory processing difficulties, common in preterm infants, are further associated with poorer interaction quality. There is a paucity of research, however, examining the links between the quality of parent-infant interaction, preterm birth, and sensory processing difficulties. This study aimed to characterise the quality of interactions of parent-infant dyads involving preterm infants who may display sensory processing differences and examine the associations between parent-infant interaction quality, preterm status and infant sensory processing.

METHOD

67 parent-infant dyads (12-months infant age, 22 preterm, 45 full-term) participated in a recorded, semi-structured 15-minute play interaction. Parents also filled out questionnaires on demographics, and infant sensory processing (Infant and Toddler Sensory Profile-2; ITSP-2). Interaction quality was rated using the Parenting Interactions with Children: Checklist of Observations Linked to Outcomes (PICCOLO).

RESULTS

Preterm and full-term infants differed in sensory processing and parent-infant interaction. Infant prematurity was associated with the sensory domains of; visual (r = - 0.37, p = .005), touch (r = - 0.39, p = .002), and movement (r_s = - .32, p = .01), as well as the interaction domains of; responsivity (r_s;= - .43, p = .001), teaching (r_s = - .31, p = .02), and interaction total score (r = - 0.34, p = .01). Interaction quality was related to sensory registration (r_s = - .38, p = .008), auditory (r_s = - .34, p = .02), seeking (r_s = .29, p = .05) and sensory behavioural scores (r_s = - .52, p < .001). Overall, interaction quality was best predicted by infant prematurity and auditory scores, R² = .15, F(1, 47) = 4.01, p = .02.

DISCUSSION

Preterm infants differed from their full-term peers in both their sensory processing and in their dyadic interactions with parents. Preterm status was associated with less responsivity and teaching and was found to predict overall interaction quality. Poorer infant sensory processing was associated with less parental teaching, affection and responsivity during interactions. Our results suggest that preterm birth is related to sensory processing difficulties, and that prematurity and sensory processing are differentially associated with aspects of interaction quality. These findings support the further examination of the interplay between preterm birth, sensory processing, and parent-infant interaction quality.

Parenting beliefs about attunement and structure are related to observed parenting behaviours

We compared self-reported parenting beliefs about caring for infants with observed parenting behaviours during play interactions between 32 parents and their infants. We measured parenting beliefs about the value of attunement and structure in caring for infants using the Baby Care Questionnaire (BCQ) (Winstanley & Gattis, 2013; Winstanley, Sperotto, Putnick, Cherian, Bornstein & Gattis, 2014). We used a micro-coding approach to distinguish between responsive parenting behaviours (maintaining infant attention) and demanding parenting behaviours (introducing or redirecting infant attention) (Landry, Garner, Swank & Baldwin, 1996). Attunement beliefs were positively related to responsive parenting behaviours and negatively related to demanding parenting behaviours. Structure beliefs were weakly related to demanding parenting behaviours. These results are an important first step toward identifying relations between self-reported parenting beliefs about attunement and structure and observed parenting behaviours.

Predictors of postnatal depression in the slums Nairobi, Kenya: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND

Postnatal depression (PND) is a universal mental health problem that prevents mothers' optimal existence and mothering. Although research has shown high PND prevalence rates in Africa, including Kenya, little research has been conducted to determine the contributing factors, especially in low-resource communities.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to investigate the PND risk factors among mothers attending Lang'ata and Riruta Maternal and Child Health Clinics (MCH) in the slums, Nairobi.

METHODS

This study was cross-sectional. It is part of a large study that investigated the effectiveness of a brief psychoeducational intervention on PND. Postnatal mothers (567) of 6-10 weeks postanatal formed the study population. Depression rate was measured using the original 1961 Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI). In addition, a sociodemographic questionnaire (SDQ) was used to collect hypothesized risk variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to explore predictors of PND.

RESULTS

The overall prevalence of PND in the sample of women was 27.1%. Women aged 18-24 (β = 2.04 95% C.I.[0.02; 4.05], p = 0.047), dissatisfied with body image (β = 4.33 95% C.I.[2.26; 6.41], p < 0.001), had an unplanned pregnancy (β = 2.31 95% C.I.[0.81; 3.80], p = 0.003 and felt fatigued (β = - 1.85 95% C.I.[- 3.50; 0.20], p = 0.028) had higher odds of developing PND. Participants who had no stressful life events had significantly lower depression scores as compared to those who had stressful life events (β = - 1.71 95% C.I.[- 3.30; - 0.11], p = 0.036) when depression was treated as a continuous outcome. Sensitivity analysis showed that mothers who had secondary and tertiary level of education had 51 and 73% had lower likelihood of having depression as compared to those with a primary level of education (A.O.R = 0.49 95% C.I.[0.31-0.78], p = 0.002) and (A.O.R = 0.27 95% C.I.[0.09-0.75], p = 0.013) respectively.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals key predictors/risk factors for PND in low-income settings building upon the scanty data. Identifying risk factors for PND may help in devising focused preventive and treatment strategies.

Infant temperament as a predictor of maternal attachment: A Jordanian study

AIM

To investigate the relationship between maternal bonding and infant temperament during the first year of infant's life. Moreover, it also wanted to explore which perinatal factors could influence the quality of maternal attachment.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study design was used to collect data from a sample of 277 mothers during the period of May-October 2018. The participants were asked to complete a three-part survey that was developed to collect data on maternal attachment and infant temperament. Data was collected between March 2019-June 2019.

RESULTS

The analysis of the data revealed that there was a significant relationship between infant temperament and maternal attachment [F(2, 95) = 6.783, p-value = .001]. It also revealed that the factors that most influenced maternal attachment were infant temperament and planned pregnancy, which together explained 54% of the variance in maternal attachment (R2   =  7.5).

CONCLUSION

Maternal attachment in Jordanian mothers can be explained by two significant factors: infant temperament and planning for pregnancy.

Parental Sensitivity and Responsiveness as Mediators Between Postpartum Mental Health and Bonding in Mothers and Fathers

Background: There is a lack of studies that examine the complex relationship between parental mental health, parental sensitivity and responsiveness, and parent-infant bonding. This study aimed to test whether parental sensitivity and responsiveness were mediators between postpartum mental health (depression, anxiety, and stress) and parent-infant bonding in mothers and fathers. Method: Mothers (n = 427) and fathers (n = 170) of infants aged up to 1-year-old participated in an online study. The parents completed questionnaires on depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, EPDS), anxiety and stress (Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale, DASS-21). Parent-infant bonding was measured by Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) that has three components: Impaired bonding (PBQ1), Anxiety about care and parental distress (PBQ2), and Lack of enjoyment and affection with infant (PB3Q). Parental sensitivity was measured as the number of correct recognitions of infant facial expressions (City Infant Faces Database, CIFD). Responsiveness was measured as a self-report with two subscales of responsiveness and non-responsiveness (Maternal Infant Responsiveness Instrument, MIRI). Results: The path analysis showed that the model had a good fit to the data. Parental sex was a significant moderator, indicating different paths in mothers and fathers. In mothers, responsiveness and non-responsiveness were significant mediators between depression symptoms and three dimensions of bonding. In fathers, only non-responsiveness was a significant mediator between anxiety and PBQ3. Although recognizing infant facial expressions directly affected PBQ3 in mothers (but not in fathers), it was not a significant mediator between mental health and bonding. Conclusion: Higher levels of parental mental health problems (depression and anxiety) were associated with lower levels of parental responsiveness, which is, in turn, related to poor parent-infant bonding. Prevention and intervention programs should be offered for both mothers and fathers, focusing on postpartum mental health promotion and enhancing responsiveness in infant care.

Two's Company, Three's a Crowd? Maternal and Paternal Talk About Their Infant Differs in Associations With Wellbeing, Couple Relationship Quality, and Caregiving Sensitivity

Problems of depression and anxiety are common in early parenthood and adversely affect parenting quality (1). Rumination is closely linked to poor wellbeing (2), suggesting that self-focus may be one mediator of the association between wellbeing and caregiving [e.g., (3)]. Framed within an international study of first-time mothers and fathers (4), the current study included 396 British mothers and fathers (in 198 heterosexual cohabiting couple relationships) of first-born 4-month-old infants. Parents reported on their symptoms of depression, anxiety and satisfaction in their couple relationship. Five-minute speech samples were transcribed and coded for parents' pronoun use (i.e., "I" and either infant- or partner-inclusive use of "We"), whilst observations in the Still-Face paradigm were coded for parental sensitivity to infants' cues. Our first goal was to test whether new parents' self-focus was associated with wellbeing and couple relationship quality. We also examined whether (i) self-focus mediated the expected association between wellbeing and caregiving sensitivity and (ii) couple relationship quality moderated the expected association between self-focus and caregiver sensitivity. Finally, we compared results for mothers and fathers. Our results illustrate gender-specific associations. First, although mean levels of self-focus and partner-inclusive talk were similar for mothers and fathers, infant-inclusive use of the "we" pronoun was higher in mothers than fathers. Second, self-focus was unrelated to either mothers' or fathers' wellbeing, but was associated with fathers' report of reduced couple relationship quality. In addition, poor perinatal wellbeing was associated with reduced partner-inclusive talk for fathers, but with reduced use of infant-inclusive talk for mothers. Third, mediation models suggest that reduced infant-inclusive talk underpins the association between poor wellbeing and reduced sensitivity in mothers, but not fathers. Fourth, in the context of good couple relationship quality, mothers' elevated partner-inclusive talk was associated with reduced caregiving sensitivity. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for interventions to support new mothers and fathers, who may benefit from distinct strategies to foster attention to their developing infant.

Maternal depressive symptoms, rumination, and child emotion regulation

Children of depressed mothers are at risk for maladaptive emotion regulation. This study examined a model of maternal rumination that links maternal depressive symptoms to child emotion regulation. A sample of 126 mother-child dyads (65 girls) participated in the current study, at three assessment points when children were age three, four, and five. At all assessment points, mothers reported their depressive symptoms and ruminative response style. Child emotion regulation was assessed observationally from two laboratory tasks, which were designed to elicit anger and sadness. Elevated maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher concurrent rumination. Maternal rumination at child age four predicted that more child focus on distress during sadness-eliciting tasks and less child active distraction during anger-eliciting tasks 1 year later. Additionally, maternal rumination at child age three and four predicted less child passive behaviors in anger-eliciting tasks prospectively. Findings suggest that maternal rumination is predictive of using maladaptive regulatory strategies among children of depressed mothers. This study has significant implications for intervention programs targeting depressed mothers and their children.

Early detection of parenting stress in mothers of preterm infants during their first-year home

Background

Maternal stress following the birth of an infant is well acknowledged. It is particularly so when infants are born prematurely as their mothers cannot fully take on their parenting role until their infant(s) is discharged from neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). In this exploratory study, we examined whether these mothers’ parenting stress would lessen during their first-year reunification with their infant(s) as they settle into motherhood at home.

Methods

Two groups of mothers with infants born between 24- and 33-week gestational age were recruited. A group of 25 mothers were monitored at their infants’ 1-month corrected age (CA) and a second group of 24 mothers were monitored at their infants’ 12-month CA. Subjects completed the long form Parental Stress Index (PSI) ranking how stressful they perceive the individual subscales in the Child and Parent Domains of the self-reported questionnaire (PSI-3; Abidin; PAR Inc). The PSI theorizes that the stress mothers perceive is a resultant of their respective characteristics, interactions with their infant(s), family, and environment. Statistical analyses include descriptive statistics, χ² square analysis, and independent t-test.

Results

There was no significant difference in the levels of perceived stress in the PSI subscales between the two groups of mothers at 1- and 12-month CA. Scores for the majority of respondents fell within the 15th to 80th percentile (% ile) distribution of Abidin’s normative population, with some mothers falling below the 15th % ile.

Discussion/conclusion

The data collected suggest that: 1. the perceived stress experienced by mothers during their first-year reunited with their preterm infants is within the normal range observed in Abidin’s normative population. 2. As the PSI is a self-reported survey, care providers need to be aware that some mothers may downplay their stress responses. 3. With the ability to monitor individual participants, the PSI can be readily offered to mothers at their infants’ first year routine clinical visits to assist in the early identification of parenting issues that may threaten the development of a healthy mother-infant dyad. Early appropriate guidance and social support would help “at-risk” mothers develop more constructive parenting routines.

Longitudinal interplay of young children's negative affectivity and maternal interaction quality in the context of unequal psychosocial resources

Interaction quality and child temperament predict early and later child development. Research hints at transactional interrelations of both aspects but lacks adequate data to examine this assumption. Maternal psychosocial resources are suspected moderators in this context but rarely taken into account. Drawing on data of the German National Educational Panel Study we conducted a cross-lagged panel analysis on the longitudinal interplay of maternal interaction quality and children's negative affectivity at 6-8, 16-18, and 25-27 months and compared mothers with and without accumulated strains. Both variables showed moderate to high structural and rank order stability over time and low but increasing connections. In the case of accumulated stress factors, interaction quality is clearly impaired and high negative affectivity acts as an additional burden while low negative affectivity helps strained mothers to maintain higher interaction quality but only in the first year of life.

Impact of Postpartum Mental Illness Upon Infant Development

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This review evaluates the state of the research regarding the effects of postpartum mental illness on the developing infant. It defines the scope of these disorders in the literature, and includes the impact of disorders referred to as perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) on infants.

RECENT FINDINGS

New research reveals that PMADs apply to not only mothers, but that fathers can also experience perinatal depression and anxiety. When untreated in a primary caregiver, PMADs adversely affect parental cognitions and beliefs, attachment to the infant, and the growing caregiver-infant relationship. PMADs affect early developmental outcomes of infants including neurosynaptic development, regulatory development, and developmental milestones. Early identification and treatment for PMADs are critical to ensure optimal infant development. Standardized and routine screening for PMADs, especially in the first 6 months postpartum, and cross-disciplinary communication among medical providers afford the best opportunity for early identification and treatment.

Einfluss eines schwierigen frühkindlichen Temperaments auf die Qualität der Mutter-Kind-Interaktion unter psychosozialen Risikolagen

Zusammenfassung. Die Qualität frühkindlicher häuslicher Lernumwelt, insbesondere mütterlichen Interaktionsverhaltens, ist ein bedeutsamer Prädiktor kindlicher Entwicklung. Die Frage, ob diese Interaktionsqualität durch ein schwieriges Temperament des Kindes reduziert ist, wenn kumulierte Belastungsfaktoren ihre Bewältigungskapazitäten einschränken, wurde an 2190 Fällen der Startkohorte 1 des Nationalen Bildungspanels (NEPS) untersucht. Im häuslichen Kontext wurde die Interaktionsqualität über Videoaufnahmen halb-strukturierter Spielsituationen, die übrigen Variablen über computerunterstützte Elterninterviews erhoben, als die Kinder 6 – 8 Monate alt waren. Während in der Nichtrisikogruppe kein Einfluss auf die Interaktionsqualität festzustellen war, zeigte sich in der Risikogruppe (Kumulation von mindestens drei Belastungsfaktoren) ein deutlicher negativer Zusammenhang mit der Neigung des Kindes zu negativen Affektäußerungen, nicht jedoch mit dessen Regulierbarkeit. Negative Affektivität stellt daher besonders in ohnehin gefährdeten Gruppen ein Entwicklungsrisiko dar.

Rumination in dysphoric mothers negatively affects mother-infant interactions

BACKGROUND

Postnatal maternal depressive symptoms are consistently associated with reduced quality of mother-infant interaction. However, there is little research examining the role of maternal cognitive factors (e.g. rumination) in the relationship between depressive symptoms and mother-infant interaction quality. This study investigated the hypotheses that: dysphoric mothers would demonstrate less sensitive behaviour towards their infants compared with nondysphoric mothers; mothers induced to ruminate would be less sensitive towards infants; rumination would moderate the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and maternal sensitivity and the impact of the rumination induction would increase following a stressor (still face) task.

METHOD

Mothers (N = 79; 39 dysphoric and 40 nondysphoric) and their infants were randomised to either a rumination induction or a control condition. Maternal sensitivity in mother-infant interactions was assessed before and after the induction using the CARE Index. In the second interaction task, mothers also completed the still-face procedure as a stressor.

RESULTS

Extending previous research, mixed measures ANOVAs demonstrated that dysphoric mothers had reduced quality of interaction with their infant compared with nondysphoric mothers and that mothers in the rumination condition exhibited reduced sensitivity towards their infants relative to mothers in the control condition. Further, maternal sensitivity worsened further after the still-face procedure in the rumination condition, but not in the control condition.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that the repetitive, internal focus of a ruminative state is causally implicated in mother-infant interaction quality, regardless of the level of depressive symptoms. This research extends understanding of specific mechanisms involved in the quality of the mother-infant relationship.

Rumination and postnatal depression: A systematic review and a cognitive model

Postnatal depression (PND) confers risk for a range of negative child developmental outcomes, at least in part through its impact on parenting behaviour. Whilst the behavioural effects of depression on parenting are well established, the cognitive mechanisms that may mediate this effect are less well understood. The current paper proposes that rumination may be a key cognitive mechanism through which parenting is affected in PND, and provides a systematic review of the existing literature on rumination in the context of perinatal depression. The review identifies ten relevant papers. Eight are questionnaire-based studies examining the role of rumination in predicting future depression and/or mother-infant relationship outcomes, such as bonding. Two are experimental studies examining the effects of induced rumination on parenting behaviours. The results of the review are discussed, and remaining questions highlighted. We then present a new theoretical model, developed specifically for the perinatal context, and informed by existing models of rumination and worry. Our cognitive model emphasises the relationship between rumination, cognitive biases and cognitive control, and the impact of these variables on infant cue processing and subsequent parenting responses. The model provides a potential framework for future work in this area, and to guide the development of treatment interventions.

The Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised: Factor structure in a culturally and sociodemographically diverse sample in the United States

The recommended factor structure for the Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Revised (IBQ-R), a widely used parent-report measure of infant temperament, has limited empirical support. Moreover, the recommended factors were developed using homogenous samples not representative of current United States (U.S.) sociodemographics. The objective of this study was to examine the factor structure of the IBQ-R in a culturally and sociodemographically diverse U.S. cohort (N=380 mother-infant dyads). Mothers were assessed during pregnancy on a range of cultural and sociodemographic characteristics and completed the IBQ-R when their infants were 6 months of age. The sample was diverse on maternal marital status, educational attainment, household income, race/ethnicity, primary language spoken, and country of birth. Initial confirmatory factor analysis for the recommended three-factor model yielded a poor fit. Modifications employed in other studies failed to improve model fit. An exploratory factor analysis revealed an acceptable model fit for a three-factor solution that showed similarities to as well as differences from the originally proposed factor structure. Additional analyses suggested lack of invariance on several factor and scale scores by maternal country of birth, race/ethnicity, and household income. The findings suggest that the commonly used IBQ-R factor structure may need to be adjusted for diverse samples and deserves further study.

Mother-Infant Face-to-Face Interaction: The Communicative Value of Infant-Directed Talking and Singing

BACKGROUND

Across culture, healthy infants show a high interest in infant-directed (ID) talking and singing. Despite ID talking and ID singing being very similar in physical properties, infants differentially respond to each of them. The mechanisms underpinning these different responses are still under discussion.

METHODS

This study explored the behavioral (n = 26) and brain (n = 14) responses from 6- to 8-month-old infants to ID talking and ID singing during a face-to-face mother-infant interaction with their own mother. Behavioral response was analyzed from offline video coding, and brain response was estimated from the analysis of electrophysiological recordings.

RESULTS

We found that during ID talking, infants displayed a significantly higher number of visual contacts, vocalizations, and body movements than during ID singing. Moreover, only during ID talking were the number of visual contacts and vocalizations positively correlated with the number of questions and pauses in the mother's speech.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that ID talking provides infants with specific cues that allow them not only to react to mother stimulation, but also to act toward them, displaying a rudimentary version of turn-taking behavior. Brain activity partially supported that interpretation. The relevance of our results for bonding is discussed.