Ruminative Thinking as a Predictor of Perceived Postpartum Mother–Infant Bonding

Predictive Importance of Antenatal Depressive Rumination and Worrying for Maternal–Foetal Attachment and Maternal Well-Being

“…In the present sample, women suffering from elevated levels of depressive rumination were less engaged with their foetus in this way. Given that forming an attachment is a continuous process that begins during pregnancy and continues after birth (Fisher et al 2008), this result complements findings of Müller et al (2013) who showed that ruminative thinking during pregnancy predicted impairments in the mother-infant relationship postpartum. Recent findings of Stein et al (2009Stein et al ( , 2012 are also in accordance with the present results.…”

“…Another study found an association between rumination and excessive reassurance-seeking (Weinstock and Whismann 2007). Finally, Müller et al (2013) found depressive rumination during pregnancy to be predictive of reduced postpartum mother-infant bonding. Based on the recognition that the relationship between a mother and her child starts to develop before the child is born, it is possible that maternal perseverative thinking might not only be associated with interpersonal problems in peer relationships (i.e., with other adults) and in mother-infant relationships, but also with impairments in the maternal-fetal attachment.…”

“…Taken together, both rumination about past concerns and worry about potential future events may play a role in the emergence of depressed and anxious affect as well as impaired bonding during pregnancy (Fresco et al 2002;McLaughlin et al 2007;Müller et al 2013;O'Mahen et al 2010). Since interventions targeted at the modification of worry and depressive rumination differ to some degree (Querstret and Cropley 2013), it is of theoretical and practical importance to determine the relative contribution of each of these two thought processes for the development of depressed and anxious affect during pregnancy.…”

Turning the pink cloud grey: Dampening of positive affect predicts postpartum depressive symptoms

“…Assessing depressive rumination during the third trimester of pregnancy in 101 women, Barnum et al (2013) found that the coping style was not predictive of short-term depressive responses (baseline to 1-month postpartum), but that it did predict longer-term symptom changes (baseline to 2-months postpartum). Finally, in a study by Müller et al (2013) prepartum rumination did not predict postpartum depressive symptoms five weeks after childbirth. Considering all the above, depressive rumination during pregnancy is taken to be predictive of higher levels of postpartum depressive symptoms, which is in line with the general literature documenting a predictive association between rumination and depression.…”

“…Considering all the above, depressive rumination during pregnancy is taken to be predictive of higher levels of postpartum depressive symptoms, which is in line with the general literature documenting a predictive association between rumination and depression. Arguably, postpartum symptoms may be limited to longer-term reactions (≥2 months postpartum; Barnum et al 2013), while appearing less relevant in the immediate postpartum period (Barnum et al 2013;Müller et al 2013). Also, the handful of studies conducted so far are limited by their relatively small sample sizes (N<=100) as well as by the fact that none of the studies took prior history of clinical depression into account.…”