The Relationship Among Maternal Psychopathology, Difficult Infant Temperament, And Maternal Perceptions of Infant Behavior
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Authors
Grills, Katharine E.
Issue Date
2011
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Research has demonstrated that maternal psychopathology can influence the development of
temperament in infants. Maternal psychopathology relates to infant temperament two ways: 1) to
the development of difficult temperament and 2) to maternal perceptions of temperament. The
current study explores the relationship between maternal PTSD and depression and infant .
temperament in a sample of mothers and their infants (n = 55). At 6 months postpartum a Still Face
Procedure was performed and the Infant Behavior Questionnaire was given. At 15 months
postpartum a Strange Situation task was performed. I proposed the following hypotheses: 1)
maternal psychopathology will be associated w.ith easily distressed infant temperament, 2)
maternal report will differ from observed reports of infant temperament, and 3) distressed infant
temperament will be relatively stable over the first 2 years of life. The results only partially
supported the hypotheses. Maternal psychopathology did not relate to distressed infant
temperament. However, distressed infant temperament at 15 months did predict later diagnoses of
maternal PTSD, suggesting that infant distress may affect susceptibility to the disorder. In addition,
maternal report of infant temperament did not converge with observed reports, suggesting bias.
However, this was not related to maternal psychopathology. Instead, biased maternal report
predicted later diagnoses of maternal PTSD and depression, suggesting that inaccurate perceptions
of infant temperament may be predictive of maternal psychopathology. Lastly, infant temperament
remained stable over the first 2 years of life, indicating that distressed infant temperament
develops regardless of maternal influence. These results imply that maternal psychopathology,
infant temperament, and maternal perceptions of infant temperament may be related but that test
relationships are complex and require further study.
Description
vii, 43 p.
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