scholarly journals Newborn Behavioral Observation, maternal stress, depressive symptoms and the mother-infant relationship: Results from the Northern Babies Longitudinal Study (NorBaby).

Author(s):  
Ragnhild Sørensen Høifødt ◽  
Dag Nordahl ◽  
Inger Pauline Landsem ◽  
Gábor Csifcsák ◽  
Agnes Bohne ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Families can experience the postpartum period as overwhelming and many report a special need for support. The Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) aims to promote a positive parent-infant relationship by sensitising parents to the infant’s signals. This article evaluates the NBO as a universal preventive intervention within the regular well-baby clinic service on measures of maternal depressive symptoms, parental stress, the mother-infant relationship and satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Methods This investigation is part of a larger longitudinal study comprising 220 women and 130 of their partners recruited between 2015 and 2017. The study had a non-randomised cluster-controlled design with 6 measurement points. This article is based on a sample of 196 women using data from T1 (gestational weeks 13-39), T4 (5-15 weeks postpartum) and T5 (3-9 months postpartum). Participants were allocated to a group receiving the NBO (n=82) and a care as usual comparison group (n=114). We measured maternal depressive symptoms and parental stress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The mother-infant relationship was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (MCQ). Participants also answered questions about satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Results Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) and repeated measures ANCOVA found no significant differences between the groups for the mother-infant relationship domains and few differences in depressive symptoms and parental stress. The repeated measures ANCOVA found that participants in the NBO-group scored slightly higher on parental stress, although the difference was small. A Mann-Whitney U test indicated that participants in the NBO-group learned significantly more than the comparison group from the follow-up about the baby’s signals in relation to sleep/sleep patterns, social interaction and crying/fuzziness.Conclusions The results indicate that the NBO-group learned more than the comparison group about reading their child’s signals in important everyday situations. However, the benefits of the NBO were limited for depressive symptoms, parental stress and mother-infant relationship measures. The study sample was generally well-functioning, and the results indicate that the benefits of the NBO may be limited within a well-functioning sample.Trial registration: ClinicalTrials, NCT02538497, Registered 2 September 2015, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02538497?term=northern+babies&draw=1&rank=1

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild Sørensen Høifødt ◽  
Dag Nordahl ◽  
Inger Pauline Landsem ◽  
Gábor Csifcsák ◽  
Agnes Bohne ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Families can experience the postpartum period as overwhelming and many report a special need for support. The Newborn Behavioral Observation (NBO) aims to promote a positive parent-infant relationship by sensitising parents to the infant’s signals. This article evaluates the NBO as a universal preventive intervention within the regular well-baby clinic service on measures of maternal depressive symptoms, parental stress, the mother-infant relationship and satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up.Methods : This investigation is part of a larger longitudinal study comprising 220 women and 130 of their partners recruited between 2015 and 2017. The study had a non-randomised cluster-controlled design with 6 measurement points. This article is based on a sample of 196 women using data from T1 (gestational weeks 13-39), T4 (5-15 weeks postpartum) and T5 (3-9 months postpartum). Participants were allocated to a group receiving the NBO (n=82) and a care as usual comparison group (n=114). We measured maternal depressive symptoms and parental stress using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). The mother-infant relationship was assessed with the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire (PRFQ), the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Maternal Confidence Questionnaire (MCQ). Participants also answered questions about satisfaction/benefit of the postpartum follow-up. Results: A Mann-Whitney U test indicated that participants in the NBO-group learned significantly more than the comparison group from the follow-up about the baby’s signals in relation to sleep/sleep patterns, social interaction and crying/fuzziness. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) and repeated measures ANCOVA found no significant differences between the groups for the mother-infant relationship domains and few differences in depressive symptoms and parental stress. The repeated measures ANCOVA found that participants in the NBO-group scored slightly higher on parental stress, although the difference was small. Conclusions: The results indicate that the NBO-group learned more than the comparison group about reading their child’s signals in important everyday situations. However, the benefits of the NBO were limited for depressive symptoms, parental stress and self-reported mother-infant relationship. The study sample was generally well-functioning, and the results indicate that the benefits of the NBO may be limited within a well-functioning sample.


2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 484-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.-L. Sutter-Dallay ◽  
L. Murray ◽  
L. Dequae-Merchadou ◽  
E. Glatigny-Dallay ◽  
M.-L. Bourgeois ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundFew studies of the effects of postnatal depression on child development have considered the chronicity of depressive symptoms. We investigated whether early postnatal depressive symptoms (PNDS) predicted child developmental outcome independently of later maternal depressive symptoms.MethodsIn a prospective, longitudinal study, mothers and children were followed-up from birth to 2 years; repeated measures of PNDS were made using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS); child development was assessed using the Bayley Scales II. Multilevel modelling techniques were used to examine the association between 6 week PNDS, and child development, taking subsequent depressive symptoms into account.ResultsChildren of mothers with 6 week PNDS were significantly more likely than children of non-symptomatic mothers to have poor cognitive outcome; however, this association was reduced to trend level when adjusted for later maternal depressive symptoms.ConclusionEffects of early PNDS on infant development may be partly explained by subsequent depressive symptoms.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Beatriz Bozzini ◽  
Jessica Mayumi Maruyama ◽  
Tiago N. Munhoz ◽  
Aluísio J. D. Barros ◽  
Fernando C. Barros ◽  
...  

Abstract Background This longitudinal study explored the relationship between trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms and offspring’s risk behavior in adolescence contributing to an extremely scarce literature about the impacts of maternal depression trajectories on offspring risk behaviors. Methods We included 3437 11-year-old adolescents from the 2004 Pelotas Birth Cohort Study. Trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms were constructed using Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EDPS) from age 3 months to 11 years. We identified five trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms: “low” “moderate low”, “increasing”, “decreasing”, and “chronic high”. The following adolescent outcomes were identified via self-report questionnaire and analyzed as binary outcome –yes/no: involvement in fights and alcohol use at age 11. We used logistic regression models to examine the effects of trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms on offspring’s risk behavior adjusting for potential confounding variable. Results Alcohol use and/or abuse as well as involvement in fights during adolescence, were not significantly associated with any specific trajectory of maternal depressive symptoms neither in the crude nor in the adjusted analyses. Conclusion Alcohol use and involvement in fights at age 11 were not associated with any specific trajectory of maternal depression.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-156 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica Pereira ◽  
Jaclyn A. Ludmer ◽  
Andrea Gonzalez ◽  
Leslie Atkinson

This study examined maternal depressive symptoms, social support, parenting, and adult attachment as mediators explaining the relation between maternal childhood maltreatment and child behavior in offspring. We assessed a community sample of 96 mother–child dyads. At child age 16 months, mothers self-reported maltreatment history, adult attachment, depressive symptoms, and social support, and maternal sensitivity was assessed via 2 hr of direct behavioral observation. Maternal reports of child behavior were collected at 5 years. Single and parallel mediation models were constructed. Only maternal depressive symptoms mediated the relation between maternal maltreatment history and children’s internalizing problems. Maternal sensitivity emerged as a suppressor variable. With respect to the relation between maternal maltreatment history and children’s externalizing problems, when entered singly, maternal depressive symptoms, social support, and avoidant attachment emerged as mediators. When examined in parallel, only maternal depressive symptoms and avoidant attachment accounted for unique mediating variance. Findings have implications with respect to important maternal factors that might be targeted to reduce the probability of maladaptive child behavior.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Cerniglia ◽  
F. Dentale ◽  
R. Tambelli ◽  
L. Murray ◽  
P. Cooper ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Maternal sub-threshold and non-clinical depression and its possible outcomes on offspring internalizing/externalizing symptoms has received growing attention in recent years because of its significant worldwide prevalence. Methods Through a Latent State-Trait Analysis approach (LST), this longitudinal study aimed to identify a stable component of non-clinical maternal depression across a temporal interval of 6 years (measured through the Symptom Check-List-90/R) and to determine the effect of this component on children’s emotional and behavioral functioning (measured through the Child Behaviour Check-List) at age 12 years. Results LST analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms tended to remain stable within individuals across 6 years of observation strongly contributing to children’s internalizing/externalizing and dysregulation symptoms. Conclusions The current longitudinal analysis of maternal and child data revealed that a stable component of maternal depressive symptoms reliably predicted a wide range of child emotional and behavioral symptoms at 12 years of age.


2016 ◽  
Vol 208 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
James White ◽  
Paola Zaninotto ◽  
Kate Walters ◽  
Mika Kivimäki ◽  
Panayotes Demakakos ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe relationship between the duration of depressive symptoms and mortality remains poorly understood.AimsTo examine whether the duration of depressive symptoms is associated with mortality risk.MethodData (n = 9560) came from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). We assessed depressive symptom duration as the sum of examinations with an eight-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale score of ⩾3; we ascertained mortality from linking our data to a national register.ResultsRelative to those participants who never reported symptoms, the age- and gender-adjusted hazard ratios for elevated depressive symptoms over 1, 2, 3 and 4 examinations were 1.41 (95% CI 1.15–1.74), 1.80 (95% CI 1.44–2.26), 1.97 (95% CI 1.57–2.47) and 2.48 (95% CI 1.90–3.23), respectively (P for trend <0.001). This graded association can be explained largely by differences in physical activity, cognitive function, functional impairments and physical illness.ConclusionsIn this cohort of older adults, the duration of depressive symptoms was associated with mortality in a dose–response manner.


2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 207-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brooks B. Gump ◽  
Jacki Reihman ◽  
Paul Stewart ◽  
Ed Lonky ◽  
Tom Darvill ◽  
...  

AbstractMaternal depression has a number of adverse effects on children. In the present study, maternal depressive symptoms were assessed (using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) when their child was 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 4.25 years, 6 years, 7 years, 8 years, and 10 years of age. At 9.5 years of age, children's (94 females, 82 males) depressive symptoms as well as cardiovascular and cortisol levels during baseline and two psychologically stressful tasks were measured. Using multilevel modeling, maternal depressive symptom trajectories were considered in relation to their child's adrenocortical and cardiovascular responses to acute stress. Our goal was to determine maternal depressive symptom trajectories for children with elevated cardiovascular and cortisol reactivity to acute stress and elevated depressive symptoms. In general, those mothers with chronically elevated depressive symptoms over their child's life span had children with lower initial cortisol, higher cardiac output and stroke volume in response to acute stress, lower vascular resistance during acute stress tasks, and significantly more depressive symptoms at 9.5 years of age. These results are discussed in the context of established associations among hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysregulation, depression, and cardiovascular disease.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Cillian McDowell ◽  
Mark Ward ◽  
Christine McGarrigle ◽  
Aisling O'Halloran ◽  
Sarah Gibney ◽  
...  

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and containment strategies employed to limit its spread have profoundly impacted daily life. Emerging evidence shows that mental health worsened compared to pre-pandemic trends. In this study, we examine associations of self-reported changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviors with mental health changes during the COVID-19 pandemic among older Irish adults. Methods: This study used data from Wave 5 (2018) and the COVID-19 study (July–November 2020) of the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA). Depressive symptoms were measured using the 8-item Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale; Perceived stress, using the 4‐item Perceived Stress Scale. Participants reported perceived changes in participation in physical activities and sedentary behaviours before and after the outbreak of COVID-19. Linear regressions examined separate associations between changes in physical activities and sedentary behaviours and changes in perceived stress/depressive symptoms. Adjustment included demographics, body mass index, smoking, alcohol, chronic diseases and stress/depressive symptoms at Wave 5. Results: Among 2,645 participants (mean age, 68.2yrs; 56% female), 19.5% (95%CI: 18.2–20.9) reported clinically significant depressive symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Compared to before the pandemic, reduced and no exercise at home and walking were associated with increased depressive symptoms and stress. A reduction in home DIY (do it yourself) was also associated with both depression and stress while doing no DIY at all was associated with increased stress but not depressive symptoms (all p<.05). Reduced hobbies and reading were associated with higher depressive symptoms, and both reduced and increased screen time were associated with increased depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Greater decreases in mental health were seen among those who reported negative changes in their physical and sedentary activities. These findings have important implications for mental health care both as we transition back to normal life and for responses to future pandemics.


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