TY - JOUR
T1 - Post-traumatic stress symptoms after childbirth and early mother–child interactions: an exploratory study
AU - Ionio, Chiara
AU - Di Blasio, Paola
PY - 2014
Y1 - 2014
N2 - Background: It is well known that mother–child relationships may be affected by maternal psychological disorders, but, at present, few experimental studies have investigated the negative impact of postpartum post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) symptoms on child behaviour using the Still Face paradigm.
Objective: The aim of this exploratory work is to investigate whether postpartum stress symptoms may affect mother–child relationships. The underlying
hypothesis is that the persistence of postpartum stress symptoms may have a negative outcome on the mother’s tuning with the child. Methods: A sample of
19 pregnant women (mean age = 31.31; SD = 4.50) attended the four phases of the research, from the seventh month of pregnancy. Maternal personality
characteristics were assessed by MMPI-2. The Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire was used to assess PTSD symptoms two days and two months after delivery.
Three months after childbirth the dyads attended the Still Face paradigm.
Results: Data have shown that the persistence of PTSD symptoms has a different effect on early mother–child interactions than those of mothers who
have not had postpartum stress symptoms. Conclusion: These data allow us to hypothesise that there are some baseline difficulties in women with PTSD
symptoms in producing a positive interactive engagement, not only in relation to the break of interaction caused by the Still episode.
AB - Background: It is well known that mother–child relationships may be affected by maternal psychological disorders, but, at present, few experimental studies have investigated the negative impact of postpartum post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) symptoms on child behaviour using the Still Face paradigm.
Objective: The aim of this exploratory work is to investigate whether postpartum stress symptoms may affect mother–child relationships. The underlying
hypothesis is that the persistence of postpartum stress symptoms may have a negative outcome on the mother’s tuning with the child. Methods: A sample of
19 pregnant women (mean age = 31.31; SD = 4.50) attended the four phases of the research, from the seventh month of pregnancy. Maternal personality
characteristics were assessed by MMPI-2. The Perinatal PTSD Questionnaire was used to assess PTSD symptoms two days and two months after delivery.
Three months after childbirth the dyads attended the Still Face paradigm.
Results: Data have shown that the persistence of PTSD symptoms has a different effect on early mother–child interactions than those of mothers who
have not had postpartum stress symptoms. Conclusion: These data allow us to hypothesise that there are some baseline difficulties in women with PTSD
symptoms in producing a positive interactive engagement, not only in relation to the break of interaction caused by the Still episode.
KW - mother-child interactions
KW - postpartum ptsd
KW - mother-child interactions
KW - postpartum ptsd
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10807/51271
U2 - 10.1080/02646838.2013.841880
DO - 10.1080/02646838.2013.841880
M3 - Article
SN - 0264-6838
VL - 32
SP - 163
EP - 181
JO - Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology
JF - Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology
ER -