Postpartum adjustment in first-time mothers: Relations between mood, maternal attitudes, and mother-infant interactions.

Self-report data were obtained from a middle-income sample of first-time mothers during pregnancy and at 1 and 3 months postpartum, and behavioral interactions between the mother and her infant were observed at 3 days and 1, 3, and 16 months postpartum. The main analyses revealed that pregnancy and postpartum mood states together explain a high proportion of the variance in mothers' maternal attitudes during the postpartum, although postpartum mood has the greater predictive power. Additionally, prior experience with children is significantly associated with maternal attitudes at all time points. Moreover, at both 1 and 3 months postpartum, depressed mothers, relative to nondepressed mothers, exhibit fewer affectionate contact behaviors toward their infants and are less likely to respond to infant vocalizations by vocalizing themselves, and, at 3 months, a higher proportion of the depressed mothers had started bottle-feeding their infants. Finally, differences in maternal behavior between depressed and nondepressed mothers during the early postpartum period were no longer apparent at 16 months postpartum. The implications of these findings are discussed with particular reference to the interrelations between prior child-care experience, mood, and maternal responsiveness. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)