Severe disorders of the mother-infant relationship: definitions and frequency.
We assessed the frequency of severe disorders of the mother-infant relationship in over 200 mothers referred to services in Birmingham and Christchurch, all of whom were interviewed using the Birmingham Interview for Maternal Mental Health. 10.6% had established rejection and 14.6% threatened rejection of their infants. 28.6% had various degrees of pathological anger, which was severe in 8.3%. Rejection was strongly associated with unwanted pregnancy and lack of interaction with the foetus.
Brockington
I F
IF
University of Birmingham, Bredenbury, UK. i.f.brockington@bham.ac.uk
Aucamp
H M
HM
Fraser
C
C
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology