Mother-to-infant attachment is critical to the health of mothers and offspring. While reward circuitry is implicated in maternal attachment, no studies have yet examined whether antenatal (i.e., in pregnancy) reward responsiveness predicts mother-to-infant bonding in the postnatal period. In a sample of 63 women, we examined whether the Reward Positivity (RewP), an event-related potential elicited to feedback indicating monetary reward, measured in pregnancy prospectively predicts self-reported mother-to-infant attachment at approximately one year postpartum. An increased antenatal RewP was associated with increased postnatal pleasure in proximity with the infant. Furthermore, this association was independent of associations with depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. This is the first study to find a prospective association between reward responsiveness in pregnancy and postnatal bonding with the infant. Future directions for attachment research are discussed.

母婴依恋对母亲和后代的健康至关重要。虽然奖赏回路与母体依恋有关，但尚无研究检查产前（即怀孕期间）奖赏反应是否能预测产后母婴的结合。在一个包含 63 名女性的样本中，我们检查了奖励积极性 (RewP)，即在怀孕期间测量的一种与事件相关的潜力，它是一种与事件相关的潜力，可引发表示金钱奖励的反馈，从而前瞻性地预测产后大约一年自我报告的母婴依恋。产前 RewP 的增加与婴儿接近的产后快感增加有关。此外，这种关联独立于与抑郁、焦虑和压力症状的关联。这是第一项发现妊娠期奖赏反应与产后与婴儿的联系之间存在前瞻性关联的研究。讨论了依恋研究的未来方向。