The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit
Objective Mothers with insecure attachment styles may have increased difficulty establishing secure attachment with their infant and may experience emotion regulation difficulties in the postpartum period. This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of emotion dysregulation (ED) on the relation...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Taylor & Francis Group
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12289 |
| _version_ | 1797681620230078464 |
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| author | Elloise Brake David Berle Nicole M. Reilly Marie‐paule Austin |
| author_facet | Elloise Brake David Berle Nicole M. Reilly Marie‐paule Austin |
| author_sort | Elloise Brake |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective Mothers with insecure attachment styles may have increased difficulty establishing secure attachment with their infant and may experience emotion regulation difficulties in the postpartum period. This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of emotion dysregulation (ED) on the relationship between maternal insecure attachment style and self‐reported attachment to infant in women admitted to a mother‐baby unit. Methods At admission, women completed self‐report questionnaires measuring attachment style, ED, postnatal attachment and postnatal depression (PND) symptoms. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and mediation analyses (PROCESS macro) were conducted. Results Insecure maternal attachment style was found to predict postnatal attachment through ED. When PND symptoms were accounted for, this model was no longer significant, and instead a serial mediation found that ED predicted PND, which was in turn associated with reduced postnatal attachment quality. Conclusions This study provides preliminary support for continued research into maternal ED as a predictor of adverse maternal and infant outcomes postnatally. Individuals with attachment insecurity experiencing emotion regulation difficulties may be at an increased risk of developing PND and in turn experiencing adverse mother‐infant attachment outcomes. This has clinical implications for the screening, assessment and treatment of women experiencing mental health or attachment related concerns postnatally. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:48:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-f06f80e9527f4879bf19b312d506de7d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0004-9530 1742-9536 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:48:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Australian Journal of Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-f06f80e9527f4879bf19b312d506de7d2023-09-19T08:54:47ZengTaylor & Francis GroupAustralian Journal of Psychology0004-95301742-95362020-09-0172328329210.1111/ajpy.1228912127465The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unitElloise Brake0David Berle1Nicole M. Reilly2Marie‐paule Austin3University of Technology SydneyUniversity of Technology SydneyUniversity of NewcastleUNSW SydneyObjective Mothers with insecure attachment styles may have increased difficulty establishing secure attachment with their infant and may experience emotion regulation difficulties in the postpartum period. This study aimed to examine the mediating effect of emotion dysregulation (ED) on the relationship between maternal insecure attachment style and self‐reported attachment to infant in women admitted to a mother‐baby unit. Methods At admission, women completed self‐report questionnaires measuring attachment style, ED, postnatal attachment and postnatal depression (PND) symptoms. Descriptive statistics, correlations, and mediation analyses (PROCESS macro) were conducted. Results Insecure maternal attachment style was found to predict postnatal attachment through ED. When PND symptoms were accounted for, this model was no longer significant, and instead a serial mediation found that ED predicted PND, which was in turn associated with reduced postnatal attachment quality. Conclusions This study provides preliminary support for continued research into maternal ED as a predictor of adverse maternal and infant outcomes postnatally. Individuals with attachment insecurity experiencing emotion regulation difficulties may be at an increased risk of developing PND and in turn experiencing adverse mother‐infant attachment outcomes. This has clinical implications for the screening, assessment and treatment of women experiencing mental health or attachment related concerns postnatally.http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12289attachmentemotion dysregulationmother baby unitperinatalpostnatal depression |
| spellingShingle | Elloise Brake David Berle Nicole M. Reilly Marie‐paule Austin The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit Australian Journal of Psychology attachment emotion dysregulation mother baby unit perinatal postnatal depression |
| title | The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| title_full | The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| title_fullStr | The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| title_full_unstemmed | The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| title_short | The relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| title_sort | relationship between emotion dysregulation and postnatal attachment in women admitted to a mother baby unit |
| topic | attachment emotion dysregulation mother baby unit perinatal postnatal depression |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajpy.12289 |
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