Dyadic analyses on the prospective association between birth experience and parent-child-bonding: The role of postpartum depression, anxiety, and childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder

Lara Seefeld; Tilmann von Soest; Pelin Dikmen-Yildiz; Susan Garthus-Niegel

doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102748

Dyadic analyses on the prospective association between birth experience and parent-child-bonding: The role of postpartum depression, anxiety, and childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder

J Anxiety Disord. 2023 Aug:98:102748. doi: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102748. Epub 2023 Jul 23.

Authors

Lara Seefeld¹, Tilmann von Soest², Pelin Dikmen-Yildiz³, Susan Garthus-Niegel⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: lara.seefeld@uniklinikum-dresden.de.
² PROMENTA Research Center, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Norway.
³ Department of Psychology, Kirklareli University, Kirklareli, Turkey.
⁴ Institute and Policlinic of Occupational and Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine TU Dresden, Dresden, Germany; Institute for Systems Medicine (ISM) and Faculty of Human Medicine, MSH Medical School Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany; Department of Childhood and Families, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo, Norway.

PMID: 37517159
DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2023.102748

Abstract

Objective: Negative birth experiences are associated with postpartum mental health difficulties in parents. However, research considering the long-term impact of a negative birth experience on parent-child-bonding and the interdependence between parents is rare. This study aimed to investigate actor as well as partner effects for the association between parents' birth experience and parent-child-bonding and whether this association is mediated by postpartum psychiatric symptoms.

Method: A community sample of couples (N = 743) completed questionnaires during pregnancy, 2, and 14 months after birth.

Results: Applying Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Models, structural equation modeling showed that parents' own negative birth experience predicted a poorer bond to their child 14 months postpartum. Compared to mothers, this association was twice as strong for partners and was mediated by symptoms of postpartum depression (mothers and partners), anxiety (partners), and childbirth-related posttraumatic stress disorder (mothers). Negative birth experiences of one parent were not related to the other parent's bonding with the child.

Conclusion: Results underline the importance of parents' positive birth experience for their postpartum mental health and secure bond to their child. The other parent's birth experience or postpartum mental health does not seem to affect one's own bond to the child in the long term.

Keywords: Birth experience; DREAM study; Dyadic analysis; Parent-child-bonding; Postpartum.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Anxiety
Depression, Postpartum*
Female
Humans
Mothers / psychology
Parent-Child Relations
Pregnancy
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic* / diagnosis