Does maternal attachment to her infant mediate the link between perceptions of infant crying at 6 months and parenting stress at 24 months? A structural equation modelling approach

Abstract

Background: Parenting stress is influenced by many factors including maternal attachment and excessive infant crying, yet the nature of these relationships is not well understood. For example, excessive infant crying despite maternal soothing may impact maternal attachment to the child, leading to higher stress. This paper explored whether maternal perception of excessive infant crying at 6 months was associated with higher maternal parenting stress at 24 months, and whether maternal attachment mediated this relationship.Methods: All families, present at 24 months in a randomized controlled trial of a 5year early intervention programme targeting school readiness skills in disadvantaged area of Ireland, were included. At 6 months, infant crying was assessed using a maternal reported measure of duration of infant crying, and maternal attachment to the infant was assessed using the Condon Maternal Attachment Scale. Parenting stress was assessed at 24 months using the childrearing stress subscale from the Parenting Stress Index. Structural equation modelling was used to explore the direct and indirect effects of maternal perceptions of excessive infant crying on parenting stress, controlling for infant, maternal, and environmental characteristics, and focusing on the mediating role of maternal attachment.Results: Reporting excessive infant crying at 6 months was associated with lower maternal attachment at 6 months, which led to higher parenting stress at 24 months.In addition, vulnerable adult attachment style, previous maternal mental health difficulties, low paternal education, paternal involvement with the child, and not being married were associated with higher parenting stress.Conclusion: Findings suggest that the association between maternal perceptions of excessive crying at 6 months and later parenting stress may be mediated through maternal attachment to the infant. Interventions based on improving maternal attachment could be investigated to determine the effectiveness of supporting mothers with low attachment.

Associations of Maternal-Infant Bonding with Maternal Mental Health, Infant’s Characteristics and Socio-Demographical Variables in the Early Postpartum Period: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Based on the obtained results, it can be stated that higher levels of stress among mothers of preterm-born children is related to more problematic Maternal-Infant bonding. This finding is in accordance with other findings in which a negative connection between parenting stress and Maternal-Infant bonding was observed [47,66,67]. Contrary to our expectations, in this study, there was no significant relationship between maternal postpartum bonding and either anxiety or depressive symptoms.…”

Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress

“…Mothers' adult attachment styles, parenting stress and maternal-infant bonding seem to be related. Parenting stress in the first year after birth has been related both to the parent's adult attachment style [29][30][31][32] and to maternal-infant bonding [6,23]. The aim of the present study is twofold.…”

“…Parenting stress is often thought to arise from perceived challenges with the child's behavior, the relationship between the parent and child, and aspects related to the parent's health, life situation and perception of the parental role [22]. There is support for a negative relationship between parenting stress and maternal-infant bonding [6,23]. Parenting stress is suggested related with decreased sensitivity in parents, and increased intrusivesness and hostility towards the child [24].…”

A Multilevel Approach to Understanding the Determinants of Maternal Harsh Parenting: the Importance of Maternal Age and Perceived Partner Support

“…Maternal depression and anxiety have been of central interest, and maternal depressive symptoms are well established as a risk factor for poorer parenting in the early years (Lovejoy et al, 2000). For example, maternal depression has been associated with higher rates of conflict during teaching tasks (Caughy et al, 2008), as well as being shown to interfere with maternal sensitivity and motherinfant attachment (Bernard et al, 2018), and to predict increased parenting stress (Bailhache et al, 2018). Similarly, maternal anxiety has been recognized as critical for parenting (Feldman, 2007;Kendler et al, 1997), predicting lower warmth and greater hostility (Seymour et al, 2014).…”