ArticleBMC psychology2020
Adult attachment style and maternal-infant bonding: the indirect path of parenting stress.
Article in BMC psychology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 64 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of Maternal Mindfulness in Longitudinal Mother-Infant Neuroendocrine Reciprocity in an Urban, Low-Income White Sample.Developmental psychobiology · 2026Article
- Parenting Stress and Stressful Life Events Among Caregivers of Toddler Siblings of Autistic and Non-Autistic Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026Article
- Psychometric Validation of the Mother-Infant Bonding Scale in Greek Mothers up to 1 Year Postpartum.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Latent profiles of parental attachment styles and their associations with parenting behaviors among parents of school-aged children.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Associations of Perceived Parenting Practices with Mother-Infant Bonding at 1-Month Postpartum via Adult Attachment, Depression, and Anxiety in Japanese Mothers.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2026Article
- Exploring the influence of personality and partner attachment on perinatal depression and anxiety.BMC psychology · 2025Article
- Association Between the Parenting Competence and Quality of Life of Family Caregivers of Children Aged 0-3 Years: Cross-Sectional Study.JMIR pediatrics and parenting · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of pandemic-induced PTSD in pregnant women on infant physical growth: a prospective cohort study.BMC pediatrics · 2024Article
- Psychometric properties of the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale and the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire in three German samples.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- The Role of Oxytocin and Vasopressin in People with Borderline Personality Disorder: A Closer Look at Adolescents.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Intimate Partner Violence and Breastfeeding Outcomes Among Canadian Women: An Exploratory Correlational Study.Maternal and child health journal · 2024Article
- The sorrow comes when I'm having moments of joy-experiences of parenting a live baby following a previous stillbirth: an interpretative phenomenological analysis.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Design and Validation of an Instrument for the Evaluation of the Quality of Mother-Child Bond and Attachment: "Cuestionario Vínculo y Apego Materno-Filial" (VAMF Questionnaire).Journal of nursing management · 2024Article
- Giving new meaning to the impact of touch in Shantala massage: mothers' perceptions of maternal and child well-being.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2024Article
- Infantile atopic dermatitis and maternal-infant bonding: a mixed methods study.Allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology : official journal of the Canadian Society of Allergy and Clinical Immunology · 2023Article
- The structural model of mother-infant bonding in the first pregnancy based on the mother's attachment style and parenting style: the mediating role of mentalization and shame.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- 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
- The Influence of Maternal Psychological Manifestations on the Mother-Child Couple during the Early COVID-19 Pandemic in Two Hospitals in Timisoara, Romania.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Parenting Stress, Maternal Self-Efficacy and Confidence in Caretaking in a Sample of Mothers with Newborns (0-1 Month).International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe quality of maternal-infant bonding is related to important child outcomes. The literature has assumed that the ability to form relationships is a relatively stable trait, and research studies have suggested that a mother's attachment style in close adult relationships is related to mother-infant bonding. The transition to parenthood is also often stressful, and the adult attachment style may relate to parenting stress in the first year after birth. Such stress could possibly have a negative relationship with the mother-infant bond. In the present study, we examined the associations between maternal adult attachment styles and the quality of mother-infant bonding and whether this relationship is mediated by parenting stress.
methodsThe present study sample comprised 168 women (mean age 31.0 years, SD 4.23 years). Between weeks 31 and 41 of gestation, the anxious and avoidant adult attachment dimensions were measured with the Experiences in Close Relationships questionnaire (ECR). Between 5 and 15 weeks after birth mother-infant bonding and parenting stress were measured with the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) and the Parenting Stress Index-Parent Domain (PSI-PD), respectively.
resultsBoth attachment-related avoidance and attachment-related anxiety correlated significantly and negatively with mother-infant bonding. However, a regression analysis showed that only attachment-related avoidance was a significant predictor of mother-infant bonding when controlling for demographic variables and maternal mental health history. The relationship between the adult attachment style and bonding was mediated by parenting stress. Higher scores on attachment avoidance and anxiety were related to increased stress, which was related to decreased quality of bonding. The overall parent domain and the subscale of competence in the parent-related stress dimension mediated between attachment avoidance and bonding, and the overall parent domain and the subscales of competence and role restriction mediated between attachment anxiety and bonding. There was no direct relationship between the adult attachment style and mother-infant bonding when parenting stress was included as a mediator.
conclusionsThis study illustrates that maternal adult attachment style relates to mother-infant bonding. This relationship was mediated by parenting stress. The results may have implications for the early identification of mothers at risk of having bonding difficulties.
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