ArticleBMC psychology2014
Adult attachment style as a risk factor for maternal postnatal depression: a systematic review.
Article in BMC psychology, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 60 citations in OpenAlex.
- Trial
- "Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- The Effect of Maternal Attitudes and Depression on Bonding During the Postpartum Period.International journal of women's health · 2025Article
- Trajectories of changes in oxytocin and vasopressin before, during, and after mother-infant interaction: a descriptive study of mothers and infants affected by postpartum depression.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Article
- Risk psychosocial factors associated with postpartum depression trajectories from birth to six months.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- Early Parenting Interactions and First-Time Mothers' Postnatal Depression and Parental Competence.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2024Article
- Oxytocin as a physiological correlate of dyadic music therapy relationships - a randomized crossover pilot study.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2024Article
- High care and low overprotection from both paternal and maternal parents predict a secure attachment style with a partner among perinatal Japanese women.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Coping as a Mediator between Attachment and Depressive Symptomatology Either in Pregnancy or in the Early Postpartum Period: A Structural Equation Modelling Approach.Brain sciences · 2023Article
- Mother-child interactions among children with visual impairment: Addressing maternal attachment style, depression-anxiety symptoms, and child's behavioral problems.Northern clinics of Istanbul · 2023Article
- Attachment-based psychosocial programme for under-privileged school children with adverse life experiences in Istanbul, Turkey.BMC psychology · 2022Article
- Maternal adult attachment and maternal-fetal attachment in the context of romantic relationship quality after premature birth-A cross sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Postnatal Major Depressive Disorder in Australia: Inequalities and Costs of Healthcare to Individuals, Governments and Insurers.PharmacoEconomics · 2021Article
- Psychosocial factors associated with postpartum psychological distress during the Covid-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
- Personal and Family Resources Related to Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Women during Puerperium.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Association between Lack of Social Support from Partner or Others and Postpartum Depression among Japanese Mothers: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- An early intervention to promote maternal sensitivity in the perinatal period for women with psychosocial vulnerabilities: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.BMC psychology · 2020Article
- Comparison of screening accuracy of the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 using two case-identification methods during pregnancy and postpartum.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
- Epigenetic signatures of attachment insecurity and childhood adversity provide evidence for role transition in the pathogenesis of perinatal depression.Translational psychiatry · 2020Article
- A Sociodemographic variables questionnaire (Q-SV) for research on family caregivers of children with chronic disease.BMC psychology · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostnatal depression (PND) is an important health problem of global relevance for maternal health and impacts on the health and wellbeing of the child over the life-course. Multinational data is hard to locate, the economic burden of PND on health care systems have been calculated in several countries, including Canada and in the UK. In Canada, health and social care costs for a mother with PND were found to be just over twice that of mothers with no mental illness. The extra community care cost for women with PND living in the UK was found to be £35.7 million per year.
methodWe carried out a systematic search to the literature to investigate the associations between attachment style and PND, using meta-narrative analysis methods, reporting statistical data and life narratives. The following databases were searched: PsycInfo, PsycExtra Web of Science, The Cochrane Library and Pubmed. We focused on research papers that examined adult attachment styles and PND, and published between 1991 and 2013. We included any papers showing relationship between maternal adult attachment and PND. Out of 353 papers, 20 met the study inclusion criteria, representing a total of 2306 participants. Data from these 20 studies was extracted by means of a data extraction table.
resultsWe found that attachment and PND share a common aetiology and that 'insecure adult attachment style' is an additional risk factor for PND. Of the insecure adult attachment styles, anxious styles were found to be associated with PND symptoms more frequently than avoidant or dismissing styles of attachment.
conclusionMore comprehensive longitudinal research would be crucial to examine possible cause-effect associations between adult attachment style (as an intergenerational construct and risk factor) and PND (as an important maternal mental health), with new screening and interventions being essential for alleviating the suffering and consequences of PND. If more is understood about the risk profile of a new or prospective mother, more can be done to prevent the illness trajectory (PND); as well as making existing screening measures and treatment options more widely available.
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