Brenda L. Volling, Lin Tan, Lauren Rosenberg, Lauren R. Bader
{"title":"Will I love my second baby as much as my first? Prevalence and psychosocial correlates of maternal-fetal relationship anxiety for second-time mothers","authors":"Brenda L. Volling, Lin Tan, Lauren Rosenberg, Lauren R. Bader","doi":"10.1002/imhj.22060","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>Most mothers have more than one child. Second-time mothers may worry about whether they will love the second baby as much as their first child. The current study examined mothers’ maternal-fetal relationship anxiety (MFRA) to their second baby, the prediction of mother-infant bonding (MIB) and infant-mother attachment security post-partum, and the psychosocial correlates of mothers’ MFRA during pregnancy. Mothers (<i>N</i> = 241, 85.9% White, 5.4% Black, 2.9% Asian/American, 3.7% Latina) and their second-born infants (55% boys) living in the Midwestern United States participated in a longitudinal investigation starting in the last trimester of pregnancy, and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months postpartum. Most women reported little to no anxiety about forming an attachment to their second baby (89.1%). MFRA predicted less maternal warmth toward the baby at 1, 4, and 8 months postpartum, but did not predict security of the infant-mother attachment at 12 months. Prenatal MFRA was also related to maternal depressive symptoms, an insecure attachment with the first child, more marital distress, and more adult attachment avoidance and ambivalence prenatally. Mothers worrying about loving a second baby as much as their first child may be experiencing other psychosocial risks that have repercussions for the developing mother-infant relationship.</p>","PeriodicalId":48026,"journal":{"name":"Infant Mental Health Journal","volume":"44 4","pages":"541-553"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2023-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/imhj.22060","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Infant Mental Health Journal","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/imhj.22060","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Most mothers have more than one child. Second-time mothers may worry about whether they will love the second baby as much as their first child. The current study examined mothers’ maternal-fetal relationship anxiety (MFRA) to their second baby, the prediction of mother-infant bonding (MIB) and infant-mother attachment security post-partum, and the psychosocial correlates of mothers’ MFRA during pregnancy. Mothers (N = 241, 85.9% White, 5.4% Black, 2.9% Asian/American, 3.7% Latina) and their second-born infants (55% boys) living in the Midwestern United States participated in a longitudinal investigation starting in the last trimester of pregnancy, and 1, 4, 8, and 12 months postpartum. Most women reported little to no anxiety about forming an attachment to their second baby (89.1%). MFRA predicted less maternal warmth toward the baby at 1, 4, and 8 months postpartum, but did not predict security of the infant-mother attachment at 12 months. Prenatal MFRA was also related to maternal depressive symptoms, an insecure attachment with the first child, more marital distress, and more adult attachment avoidance and ambivalence prenatally. Mothers worrying about loving a second baby as much as their first child may be experiencing other psychosocial risks that have repercussions for the developing mother-infant relationship.
期刊介绍:
The Infant Mental Health Journal (IMHJ) is the official publication of the World Association for Infant Mental Health (WAIMH) and the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health (MI-AIMH) and is copyrighted by MI-AIMH. The Infant Mental Health Journal publishes peer-reviewed research articles, literature reviews, program descriptions/evaluations, theoretical/conceptual papers and brief reports (clinical case studies and novel pilot studies) that focus on early social and emotional development and characteristics that influence social-emotional development from relationship-based perspectives. Examples of such influences include attachment relationships, early relationship development, caregiver-infant interactions, infant and early childhood mental health services, contextual and cultural influences on infant/toddler/child and family development, including parental/caregiver psychosocial characteristics and attachment history, prenatal experiences, and biological characteristics in interaction with relational environments that promote optimal social-emotional development or place it at higher risk. Research published in IMHJ focuses on the prenatal-age 5 period and employs relationship-based perspectives in key research questions and interpretation and implications of findings.