Severe maternal psychopathology and infant-mother attachment.
Eighty-two mother-infant dyads, comprising women with psychiatric disorder and individually matched controls, were followed up over the children's 1st year of life. The mothers with mental illness consisted of two subgroups: first, 25 severely mentally ill mothers who had been admitted to a psychiatric unit with their infants; and second, 16 mothers from a community sample meeting research diagnostic criteria for unipolar, nonpsychotic depression. With the exception of six dyads in the in-patient group, observations were made of the mother-infant interaction and the quality of the infant-mother attachment relationship at 12 months. The nature and course of the mothers' illness was also documented. Although few residual symptoms of maternal mental illness were detected at 1 year postpartum, interactional disturbances were evident among the case group dyads. A strong association was revealed between infant-mother attachment quality and maternal diagnosis; a manic episode of illness in the postpartum period was related to security in the attachment relationship, and psychotic or nonpsychotic depression was related to insecurity. Concurrent patterns of mother-infant interaction provided support for this finding.
Hipwell
A E
AE
Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, UK.
Goossens
F A
FA
Melhuish
E C
EC
Kumar
R
R
D000328:Adult; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D016241:Child of Impaired Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009769:Object Attachment; D010343:Patient Admission; D010552:Personality Assessment; D010553:Personality Development; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology