@article{ref1,
title="Examining the relationship between maternal childhood abuse history and mother-infant bonding: the mediating roles of postpartum depression and maternal self-efficacy",
journal="Child abuse and neglect",
year="2023",
author="Chau, Vivian and Dryer, Rachel and Brunton, Robyn",
volume="145",
number="",
pages="e106439-e106439",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The detrimental effects of childhood abuse on long-term outcomes are well-known, however few studies have examined these effects in the context of postpartum psychopathology, maternal self-efficacy, and mother-infant bonding quality. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between a maternal childhood abuse experience (i.e., physical, psychological, and sexual) and mother-infant bonding disturbances, and whether this relationship was mediated by postnatal depression symptomatology and maternal self-efficacy. <br><br>METHOD: A sample of 191 postpartum women (Mage = 32.88, SD = 4.20) recruited online from the general population completed self-report measures of the constructs of interest. <br><br>RESULTS: Postnatal depression symptomatology and maternal self-efficacy were found to fully mediate the relationship between psychological child abuse experience and mother-infant bonding disturbances (β = 0.06, SE = 0.03, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.12). Postnatal depression symptomatology (but not maternal self-efficacy) was an independent mediator between psychological child abuse experience and mother-infant bonding (β = 0.07, SE = 0.03, 95 % CI: 0.01, 0.13). After inclusion of other abuse types as covariates in the analyses, the findings for maternal child physical abuse attenuated to non-significance. Child sexual abuse was not associated with the mediating or outcome variables, highlighting the issue of disclosure despite the anonymous online environment. <br><br>CONCLUSION: This study highlights the negative impact of psychological childhood abuse experience on the quality of the mother-infant bond during the postpartum period and potential pathways that underlie this relationship. This study also draws attention to the need to recognize comorbidity of abuse types in research.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0145-2134",
doi="10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106439",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2023.106439"
}