title: The ups and downs of early mothering.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The maternal experience of having a young infant is often viewed through a negative lens focused on psychological distress due, in part, to a historical focus on identifying threats to prenatal, perinatal and postpartum well-being of women and infants. This report examines maternal appraisal of both positive and negative experiences during and after pregnancy and introduces a new scale that assesses both uplifts and hassles that are specific to early motherhood.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample included 136 women who began study participation during pregnancy and completed an existing scale designed to evaluate pregnancy-specific hassles and uplifts. When infants were 6 months old, participants completed the newly developed Maternal Experience Scale (MES) along with questionnaires related to anxiety, depression, attachment, parenting stress and infant temperament characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In general, women with 6-month-old infants rated their maternal experiences far more positively than negatively. MES hassles and uplift scores reflected both convergent and discriminant validity with general measures of psychological well-being and parent-specific measures. Appraisal of the pregnancy experience significantly predicted appraisal of early motherhood for hassles, uplifts and a composite score reflecting emotional valence. Women became relatively more uplifted and less hassled from pregnancy to 6-month postpartum; this was particularly true for multiparous women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The maternal perception of motherhood corresponds to her perception of pregnancy. The MES provides a balanced view of motherhood by including maternal appraisal of the uplifting aspects of caring for an infant.
authors: a Department of Population , Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , MD , USA and.
authors: Janet A
authors: JA
authors: DiPietro
authors: a Department of Population , Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , MD , USA and.
authors: Matthew A
authors: MA
authors: Goldshore
authors: a Department of Population , Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , MD , USA and.
authors: Katie T
authors: KT
authors: Kivlighan
authors: a Department of Population , Family, and Reproductive Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore , MD , USA and.
authors: Heather A
authors: HA
authors: Pater
authors: b Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics , Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine, Johns Hopkins Hospital , Baltimore , MD , USA.
authors: Kathleen A
authors: KA
authors: Costigan
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D049590:Postpartum Period / Q000523:psychology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Infancy; maternal stress; motherhood; parenting; postpartum distress; pregnancy