Affiliation:
1. Department of Psychology, Educational Sciences and Human Movement, University of Palermo, 90144 Palermo, Italy
Abstract
The perinatal period may represent a particularly challenging time for expecting parents. Previous studies have highlighted an association between several perinatal risk conditions (e.g., childhood maltreatment, poor social support, and stress levels) and the development of psychopathological symptoms in pregnant women, especially depression symptoms. The current study examined the effects of psychosocial risk factors (childhood maltreatment, poor social support, and stressful events) on anxiety, depression, perceived stress, irritability/anger, relationship problems, psychosomatic symptoms, specific physiological problems, and addiction/at-risk behaviors. Sixty-one pregnant women (age range = 24–45) participating in a larger study completed questionnaires about childhood maltreatment (CECA Q.), Maternity Social Support Scale (MSSS), questionnaire on stressful events, and the Perinatal Assessment of Maternal Affectivity (PAMA) during their pregnancy. Results from regression analysis indicated that the presence of childhood maltreatment predicted elevated depressive symptoms, elevated irritability and anger, and elevated relationship problems. Further, stressful events in the year prior to pregnancy predicted elevated psychosomatic symptoms during pregnancy. No other significant associations were found. In this study, traumatic childhood events were strongly associated with mental health symptoms during pregnancy. This is an important finding that suggests the importance of screening and targeting psychotherapeutic interventions for vulnerable women during pregnancy.
Reference60 articles.
1. Maas, A.J.B.M., Vreeswijk, C.M.J.M., de Cock, E.S.A., Rijk, C.H.A.M., and van Bakel, H.J.A. (2012). ‘Expectant Parents’: Study protocol of a longitudinal study concerning prenatal (risk) factors and postnatal infant development, parenting, and parent-infant relationships. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 12.
2. Stern, D.N. (1995). The Motherhood Constellation: A Unified View of Parent–Infant Psychotherapy, Routledge.
3. Pregnancy affects appraisal of negative life events;Glynn;J. Psychosom. Res.,2004
4. Positive childhood experiences predict less psychopathology and stress in pregnant women with childhood adversity: A pilot study of the benevolent childhood experiences (BCEs) scale;Narayan;Child Abuse Negl.,2018
5. Developmental trauma disorder: Towards a rational diagnosis for chronically traumatized children;Prax. Kinderpsychol. Kinderpsychiatr.,2009
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献