Adult attachment, the transition to parenthood, and depressive symptoms.

Abstract

Testing a model suggested by J. Bowlby (1988), this study investigated how a personal vulnerability (attachment ambivalence) interacts with perceptions of deficient spousal support before and during a major life stressor (the transition to parenthood) to predict pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms. Highly ambivalent women who entered parenthood perceiving either less support or greater anger from their husbands experienced pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms at 6 months postpartum. The associations between these 2 prenatal interaction terms and pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms were mediated by perceptions of declining spousal support across the transition period. Moreover, for highly ambivalent women, the association between prenatal and postnatal depression scores was mediated by perceptions of the amount of support available from their husbands.

Insecure attachment and personality disorder: a twin study of adults

“…Furthermore, theoretically important effects of attachment anxiety are obtained even when measures of neuroticism are statistically controlled (e.g. Mikulincer et al, 2002;Simpson, Rholes, Campbell, Tran, & Wilson, 2003).…”

The Experience of Postpartum Depression among Mothers with Withdrawn Attachment Style during Pregnancy and the First Postnatal Month

“…Perhaps this occurs because these mothers lack the motivation, social skills, or supportive social networks necessary for seeking assistance. Simpson, Rholes, Campbell, Tran, and Wilson (2003) reported that the period immediately after delivery could be managed using the typical withdrawn style. However, withdrawn mothers soon realize that they need a tremendous amount of help and lose control over their daily activities as a result of childcare, which could lead to depression.…”

Parental Psychological Distress and Confidence After an Infant’s Birth: The Role of Attachment Representations in Parents of Infants with Congenital Anomalies and Parents of Healthy Infants

“…Avoidance refers to the degree to which individuals maintain psychological and emotional independence from significant others and desire to limit intimacy, characteristics associated with representations of others. While individuals who score low in both dimensions have secure working models (i.e., they consider themselves to be worthy of support and love and believe others to be trustworthy and supportive), individuals who score high in one or both of these dimensions present insecure working 7 | Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings models of the self (i.e., they believe they are unworthy of support) and/or of others (i.e., they believe other people are unsupportive of them; Griffin & Bartholomew, 1994;Simpson, Rholes, Campbell, Tran, & Wilson, 2003).…”