SynthesisInternational journal of environmental research and public health2020
Prenatal Attachment and Perinatal Depression: A Systematic Review.
Synthesis in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 56 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
56 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 139 citations in OpenAlex.
- Systematic Review of Machine Learning applied to the Prediction of Obesity and Overweight.Journal of medical systems · 2023Pooled it
- Pre-natal Attachment and Parent-To-Infant Attachment: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Pooled it
- Effectiveness of a Mindfulness-Based Mobile Intervention for Improving Perinatal Mental Health and Reducing Depression During Pregnancy: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2025Trial
- The effect of maternal-fetal attachments skills training among unintended primigravida women: a randomized controlled trial.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Effects of Fetal Images Produced in Virtual Reality on Maternal-Fetal Attachment: Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Psychosocial Factors Associated with a Positive Antenatal Depression Screen: A Cross-Sectional Study of Perception of Motherhood, Attachment Style, Emotional History and Sleep Problems.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Adverse Childhood Experiences and Maternal-Fetal Attachment: Indirect Associations via Prenatal Depressive Symptoms in a Romanian Sample.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Psychosocial Predictors of Maternal-Fetal Attachment in Anxious Pregnancies: A Study Among Women With Prior Miscarriages.Health science reports · 2026Article
- Trajectories of maternal bonding over the perinatal period: Associations with demographic, obstetric, psychological, and infant variables.Infant mental health journal · 2026Article
- The Relationship Between Anxiety, Stress, Depression, Traumatic Childbirth Perception, and Prenatal Attachment in Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study.Depression and anxiety · 2026Article
- Father involvement in pregnancy and attachment to their baby: Depression and partner relationships in a sample of Black fathers.Infant mental health journal · 2026Article
- Prenatal depression exposure and infant developmental outcomes: a retrospective cohort study of reduced fetal growth indicators, elevated neonatal heart rate, and developmental trajectories in China.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- How family functioning shapes prenatal bonding: a mediation analysis of depressive symptoms and maternal-fetal attachment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Article
- The impact of childhood maltreatment on paternal antenatal bonding: the mediating role of antenatal depression.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Perinatal mental health management level of obstetric healthcare workers and influencing factors: a latent profile analysis.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Article
- When a Parent Is Born: An Integrated Approach to Perinatal Mental Health and Early Risk Screening.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2025Article
- Links among maternal antenatal attachment, postnatal depressive symptoms and infant crying: a prospective cohort study.Archives of women's mental health · 2025Article
- The mediating role of delivery mode on postpartum maternal depression and mother-infant bonding.Pakistan journal of medical sciences · 2025Article
- The relationship between maternal psychopathology and maternal-fetal attachment: a cross-sectional study from the Czech Republic.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Nurses' representations about partner participation in prenatal care: perspective on masculinities.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Pregnancy is a period of complex bio-psychological changes, during which the development of an attachment bond to the fetus takes on a central role. Depressive symptoms are common during this period. Both symptoms of depression and low levels of prenatal attachment are related to negative outcomes in caregivers and infants. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement, this systematic review analyzes and systematizes 41 studies concerning the association between prenatal attachment and perinatal depression. The majority of the studies reported a significant association between the two. Specifically, prenatal depressive symptoms were found to be negatively associated with prenatal attachment. Furthermore, lower levels of prenatal attachment were related to higher postnatal depressive symptoms, although fewer studies assessed this association. While these results were found across different populations, conflicting findings emerged, suggesting they should be interpreted with caution, particularly in male samples and in non-normative pregnancies (e.g., high-risk pregnancies, medically assisted pregnancies, and pregnancies with previous perinatal losses). These results are clinically important for the perinatal screening process and for implementing preventive and treatment programs. However, future studies are needed to further confirm and generalize these results.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.