Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychology Mount Saint Vincent University, Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
2. Department of Psychology Metropolitan Toronto University Toronto Ontario Canada
3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
4. Offord Centre for Child Studies McMaster University Hamilton Ontario Canada
Abstract
AbstractPregnant individuals and parents have experienced elevated mental health problems and stress during COVID‐19. Stress during pregnancy can be harmful to the fetus and detrimental to the parent–child relationship. However, social support is known to act as a protective factor, buffering against the adverse effects of stress. The present study examined whether (1) prenatal stress during COVID‐19 was associated with parent–infant closeness at 6 months postpartum, and (2) social support moderated the effect of prenatal stress on the parent–infant relationship. In total, 181 participants completed questionnaires during pregnancy and at 6 months postpartum. A hierarchical linear regression analysis was conducted to assess whether social support moderated the effect of stress during pregnancy on parent–infant closeness at 6 months postpartum. Results indicated a significant interaction between prenatal stress and social support on parents’ perceptions of closeness with their infants at 6 months postpartum (β = .805, p = .029); parents who experienced high prenatal stress with high social support reported greater parent–infant closeness, compared to those who reported high levels of stress and low social support. Findings underscore the importance of social support in protecting the parent–infant relationship, particularly in times of high stress, such as during the COVID‐19 pandemic.
Subject
Psychiatry and Mental health,Developmental and Educational Psychology,Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health