{"title":"Postpartum maternal sleep disruption is associated with perception of infant temperament: findings from a 6-month longitudinal study.","authors":"Rebecca C Cox, Michele L Okun","doi":"10.1007/s00737-025-01617-7","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Infant temperament is influenced by environmental factors, such as maternal depression and anxiety. However, the association between maternal sleep and infant temperament is unclear. We examined the associations between maternal postpartum sleep and maternal perception of infant temperament and the moderating effect of maternal depression and anxiety over 6 months following delivery.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Postpartum women with a history of depression (N = 166) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7, and Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form once per month for 6 months post-delivery. Associations between maternal sleep and infant temperament and interactions with maternal anxiety and depression were tested via 2-level multilevel models.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>At the month-level, shorter sleep duration and greater sleep disturbance were significantly associated with higher infant negative affectivity, and shorter sleep duration, greater sleep disturbance, and lower sleep efficiency were associated with significantly lower infant orienting/regulation (p's < 0.05). At the person-level, lower sleep efficiency and greater sleep disturbance were significantly associated with higher infant negative affectivity (p's < 0.05). Both person-level effects were significantly moderated by depression symptoms, whereas only the effect of sleep efficiency was moderated by anxiety symptoms (p's < 0.05).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Maternal perception of infant orienting/regulation may be sensitive to acute sleep disruption, whereas maternal perception of infant negative affectivity is linked both acute and trait-like maternal sleep disruption. Lower depression symptoms may buffer trait-like effects of maternal sleep disruption on perception of infant negative affectivity, whereas higher anxiety symptoms may be sensitizing. These findings highlight the importance of maternal sleep health for infant outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":8369,"journal":{"name":"Archives of Women's Mental Health","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Archives of Women's Mental Health","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-025-01617-7","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHIATRY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose: Infant temperament is influenced by environmental factors, such as maternal depression and anxiety. However, the association between maternal sleep and infant temperament is unclear. We examined the associations between maternal postpartum sleep and maternal perception of infant temperament and the moderating effect of maternal depression and anxiety over 6 months following delivery.
Methods: Postpartum women with a history of depression (N = 166) completed the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale, Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7, and Infant Behavior Questionnaire-Very Short Form once per month for 6 months post-delivery. Associations between maternal sleep and infant temperament and interactions with maternal anxiety and depression were tested via 2-level multilevel models.
Results: At the month-level, shorter sleep duration and greater sleep disturbance were significantly associated with higher infant negative affectivity, and shorter sleep duration, greater sleep disturbance, and lower sleep efficiency were associated with significantly lower infant orienting/regulation (p's < 0.05). At the person-level, lower sleep efficiency and greater sleep disturbance were significantly associated with higher infant negative affectivity (p's < 0.05). Both person-level effects were significantly moderated by depression symptoms, whereas only the effect of sleep efficiency was moderated by anxiety symptoms (p's < 0.05).
Conclusions: Maternal perception of infant orienting/regulation may be sensitive to acute sleep disruption, whereas maternal perception of infant negative affectivity is linked both acute and trait-like maternal sleep disruption. Lower depression symptoms may buffer trait-like effects of maternal sleep disruption on perception of infant negative affectivity, whereas higher anxiety symptoms may be sensitizing. These findings highlight the importance of maternal sleep health for infant outcomes.
期刊介绍：
Archives of Women’s Mental Health is the official journal of the International Association for Women''s Mental Health, Marcé Society and the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology (NASPOG). The exchange of knowledge between psychiatrists and obstetrician-gynecologists is one of the major aims of the journal. Its international scope includes psychodynamics, social and biological aspects of all psychiatric and psychosomatic disorders in women. The editors especially welcome interdisciplinary studies, focussing on the interface between psychiatry, psychosomatics, obstetrics and gynecology. Archives of Women’s Mental Health publishes rigorously reviewed research papers, short communications, case reports, review articles, invited editorials, historical perspectives, book reviews, letters to the editor, as well as conference abstracts. Only contributions written in English will be accepted. The journal assists clinicians, teachers and researchers to incorporate knowledge of all aspects of women’s mental health into current and future clinical care and research.
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