Understanding the link between maternal childhood maltreatment and mother-infant bonding: postpartum depressive symptoms as a mediator.

ABSTRACT: Background: Impairments in mother-infant bonding (MIB) during the postpartum period were shown to adversely affect a child's development. Research suggests that such impairments are associated with mothers' own childhood experiences of maltreatment. Hence, understanding factors that mediate this relationship is essential for developing targeted preventive interventions to support mothers who experienced maltreatment in their own childhood during the perinatal period.Objective: As postpartum depression is associated with maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment and impairments in MIB, we aimed to examine the mediating effect of postpartum depression in the relationship between maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment and impairments in MIB.Methods: Longitudi

SUBMITTER: Vogel L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12570252 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature