ABSTRACT

Understanding how a mother’s traumatic experiences influence her interactions with her infant may have importance for understanding infant development and mental health. Data for this study were drawn from an Australian pregnancy cohort, the Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study. Maternal trauma from Childhood, Childbirth Experiences, and Stressful Life Events were examined. At six-months postpartum, 211 predominantly first-time mothers (mean age 31.5 years), and their infants, were video-recorded interacting for 40 minutes. Interactions were assessed with the Emotional Availability (EA) Scales. Using structural equation modelling to test multiple mediation pathways, moderate-to-severe childhood trauma had only a direct effect on reducing maternal EA with the infant (β=−.17, p=.031), as did current stressful life events (β=−.19, p=.019), after controlling for maternal depression, age, and tertiary education. This highlights that proximate trauma specific to the perinatal period may not account for the effect of distal childhood trauma on maternal EA at six-months postpartum.

摘要

了解母亲的创伤经历如何影响她与婴儿的互动可能对了解婴儿的发育和心理健康具有重要意义。本研究的数据来自澳大利亚的妊娠队列 Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study。检查了来自童年、分娩经历和压力生活事件的母体创伤。在产后 6 个月时，211 名主要是首次生育的​​母亲（平均年龄 31.5 岁）和她们的婴儿被录制了 40 分钟的互动视频。使用情绪可用性 (EA) 量表评估互动。使用结构方程模型来测试多种中介途径，中度至重度儿童期创伤仅对减少母亲对婴儿的 EA 有直接影响（β=-.17，p=.031），当前压力性生活事件（β =-.19, p=.019), 在控制了母亲的抑郁、年龄和高等教育之后。这突出表明，特定于围产期的近端创伤可能无法解释远期童年创伤对产后 6 个月母亲 EA 的影响。