ArticleBMC pregnancy and childbirth2025
Postpartum depression and maternal-infant bonding: the mediating role of mentalizing and parenting self-efficacy.
Article in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Optimal dose of aerobic exercise for improving postpartum depression, anxiety, and quality of life: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and dose-response analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2026Pooled it
- Factors Associated With Maternal Depression, Anxiety and Mother-Infant Bonding in At-Risk Mothers During Pregnancy: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study.Journal of advanced nursing · 2026Observational
- Associations between formal social support in early postpartum, parenting self-efficacy, and parent-infant bonding: A cross-sectional survey.International journal of nursing studies advances · 2026Article
- Fear of childbirth, birth satisfaction, and postpartum depression in relation to mother-infant bonding in postpartum women.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- The relationship between maternal attachment, maternal self-efficacy, and postpartum depressive symptoms in mothers during the early postpartum period: a cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Risk and Protective Factors of Perinatal Depression in Perinatal Latinas: a Systematic Review.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Review
- Enhancing breastfeeding outcomes in postpartum women with insufficient breast milk supply: protocol for a six-month longitudinal randomized trial of self-administered acupressure.International breastfeeding journal · 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
- Breastfeeding difficulties and maternal-infant bonding at three months postpartum in a Turkish cohort.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Development trajectories of marital satisfaction and postpartum depression: a longitudinal study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
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Abstract
backgroundThe accumulated evidence suggested that postpartum depression was mainly associated with maternal-infant bonding. However, this link needed to be further explained by potential mediating factors. This study aimed to investigate the impact of postpartum depression on maternal-infant bonding, examining the mediating roles of mentalizing and parenting self-efficacy.
methodsA sample of 390 postpartum women was recruited from a maternity hospital around four weeks postpartum. A multiple mediating analysis was conducted to investigate how mentalizing and parenting self-efficacy affected the relationship between postpartum depression and maternal-infant bonding.
resultsThe mediation analyses indicated that postpartum depression had a direct negative impact on maternal-infant bonding among postpartum women. It could also exert an indirect effect via three pathways: the independent mediation of parenting self-efficacy, the serial mediation of hypermentalizing and parenting self-efficacy, and the serial mediation of hypomentalizing and parenting self-efficacy. LIMITATIONS: Women were sampled from a single maternity hospital, and self-report measures were utilized. The cross-sectional design also limited conclusions about causation and directionality.
conclusionsThe findings suggest that postpartum depression may negatively affect maternal-infant bonding. Moreover, the significant roles of a mother’s mentalizing and parenting self-efficacy in the relationship between postpartum depression and maternal-infant bonding should not be overlooked. These results could offer insights into supporting women with postpartum depressive symptoms to establish positive mother-infant relationships. CLINICAL TRIAL NUMBER: No. 20230128.
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