The Early Mother-to-Child Bond and Its Unique Prospective Contribution to Child Behavior Evaluated by Mothers and Teachers

Fuchs, Anna; Möhler, Eva; Reck, Corinna; Resch, Franz; Kaess, Michael

doi:10.1159/000445439

Cited by 49 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Future studies could investigate whether a traumatic birth in which fears were realised mediates the relationship between FOC and postnatal bonding and whether problems persist. Perceived difficulties in bonding measured by the PBQ have been associated with parental stress and negative child outcomes (de Cock et al 2017;Fuchs et al 2016). Perceived bonding is therefore of likely clinical importance, and the PBQ could be a useful way to identify dyads at risk of future issues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of childbirth during pregnancy: associations with observed mother-infant interactions and perceived bonding

Challacombe

Nath

Trevillion

et al. 2020

Arch Womens Ment Health

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Fear of childbirth (FOC) is a common phenomenon that can impair functioning in pregnancy but potential longer term implications for the mother-infant relationship are little understood. This study was aimed at investigating postpartum implications of FOC on the mother-infant relationship. A UK sample of 341 women in a community setting provided data on anxiety, mood and FOC in mid-pregnancy and subsequently completed self-report measures of postnatal bonding in a longitudinal cohort study. Postnatal observations of mother-infant interactions were collected and rated for a subset of 141 women. FOC was associated with maternal perception of impaired bonding, even after controlling for sociodemographic factors, concurrent depression and the presence of anxiety disorders (Coef = 0.10, 95% CI 0.07–0.14, p < 0.001). Observed mother-infant interactions were not associated with FOC (Coef = -0.01-0.03 CI − 0.02 to 0.02, p = 0.46), weakly with concurrent depression (Coef = − 0.10, CI − 0.19 to 0.00, p = 0.06) and not associated with anxiety disorders. The self-efficacy component of FOC was most strongly associated with lower reported bonding (Coef 0.37, 95% CI 0.25–0.49, p < 0.001) FOC makes a distinct contribution to perceived postpartum bonding difficulties but observed mother-infant interaction quality was not affected. This may be due to low self-efficacy impacting psychological adjustment during pregnancy. Targeted interventions during pregnancy focusing both on treatment of key childbirth fears and bonding could help women adjust earlier.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fear of childbirth during pregnancy: associations with observed mother-infant interactions and perceived bonding

Challacombe

Nath

Trevillion

et al. 2020

Arch Womens Ment Health

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“…Deficits in forming close and secure social bonds is a common feature of psychopathology, and may be a precursor to problem behavior. For instance, social competence at age 4 predicts subsequent internalizing and externalizing symptoms (Bornstein, Hahn, & Haynes, 2010) and the quality of mother-infant bonds at 2 weeks predicts child behavior problems at age 5 (Fuchs, Möhler, Reck, Resch, & Kaess, 2016). Likewise, the establishment of close relationships due to enriched early experiences of contact may enhance resilience, as social support has been shown to buffer the effects of stress (Hostinar, Sullivan, & Gunnar, 2014).…”

Section: Implications Of Findings For Psychopathologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Epigenetic correlates of neonatal contact in humans

et al. 2017

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Animal models of early postnatal mother-infant interactions have highlighted the importance of tactile contact for biobehavioral outcomes via the modification of DNA methylation (DNAm). The role of normative variation in contact in early human development has yet to be explored. In an effort to translate the animal work on tactile contact to humans, we applied a naturalistic daily diary strategy to assess the link between maternal contact with infants and epigenetic signatures in children 4-5 years later, with respect to multiple levels of child-level factors, including genetic variation and infant distress. We first investigated DNAm at four candidate genes: the glucocorticoid receptor gene, nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 1 (NR3C1), μ-opioid receptor M1 (OPRM1) and oxytocin receptor (OXTR; related to the neurobiology of social bonds), and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF; involved in postnatal plasticity). Although no candidate gene DNAm sites significantly associated with early postnatal contact, when we next examined DNAm across the genome, differentially methylated regions were identified between high and low contact groups. Using a different application of epigenomic information, we also quantified epigenetic age, and report that for infants who received low contact from caregivers, greater infant distress was associated with younger epigenetic age. These results suggested that early postnatal contact has lasting associations with child biology.

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“…The development of bonding is important, as impaired bonding can impact the child's emotional, cognitive, and behavioral long-term development. For example, studies have shown associations between impaired mother-to-infant bonding and child behavior problems in early childhood [5], and an increased child's risk of developing psychopathology in adulthood [6]. Moreover, mothers who reported impaired mother-to-infant bonding experienced high levels of parenting stress during toddlerhood [7], and these children are at risk for maltreatment later in life [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mother-to-Infant Bonding in Women with Postpartum Psychosis and Severe Postpartum Depression: A Clinical Cohort Study

Gilden

Molenaar

Smit

et al. 2020

JCM

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Mother-to-infant bonding is important for long-term child development. The aim of this study was to investigate bonding in women admitted to a Mother and Baby Unit with postpartum depression (PD, n = 64) and postpartum psychosis (PP, n = 91). Participants completed the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS) weekly during admission. At admission, 57.1% of women with PD had impaired bonding, compared to only 17.6% of women with PP (p-value < 0.001). At discharge, only 18.2% of women with PD and 5.9% of women with PP still experienced impaired bonding (p-value = 0.02). There was a strong association between decrease of depressive and manic symptoms and improved bonding over an eight-week admission period. In a small group of women (5.7%) impaired bonding persisted despite being in remission of their psychiatric disorder. The results from our study show that impaired bonding is a more present and evidently severe problem in postpartum depression but not so much in postpartum psychosis. Treatment of depressive symptoms will improve bonding in almost all women, but clinicians should assess if impaired bonding is still present after remission because for a small group special care and treatment focused on bonding might be required.

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The Early Mother-to-Child Bond and Its Unique Prospective Contribution to Child Behavior Evaluated by Mothers and Teachers

Cited by 49 publications

References 40 publications

Fear of childbirth during pregnancy: associations with observed mother-infant interactions and perceived bonding

Fear of childbirth during pregnancy: associations with observed mother-infant interactions and perceived bonding

Epigenetic correlates of neonatal contact in humans

Mother-to-Infant Bonding in Women with Postpartum Psychosis and Severe Postpartum Depression: A Clinical Cohort Study

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