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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Isolation of Leukocytes from the Murine Tissues at the Maternal-Fetal Interface
Published on: May 21, 2015
The relation between social support, anxiety and distress symptoms and maternal fetal attachment
Joyce Hopkins1, Jennifer L Miller1, Kristina Butler1
1a Department of Psychology , Illinois Institute of Technology , Chicago , USA.
Objective:
The aims of this study were to: (1) examine the relation between social support, trait anxiety, symptoms of maternal distress (including stress, depression and anxiety) and maternal-fetal attachment; and (2) to determine if social support buffers the relation between trait anxiety, symptoms of distress and maternal-fetal attachment.
Design:
Ninety-four pregnant women completed five self-report questions. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the influence of trait anxiety, symptoms of distress, and social support on two factors of maternal-fetal attachment, quality and intensity/frequency.
Results:
In the first model with the dependent measure as the maternal-fetal attachment quality score, trait anxiety (β = -.24, p < .05) and social support (β = .30, p < .01) were significant predictors, accounting for 18% of the variance. In the second model with the dependent measure as the maternal-fetal attachment intensity/frequency score, trait anxiety (β = -.23, p < .05) and social support (β = .32, p < .01) were significant predictors, accounting for 23% of the variance. In addition, the interaction term contributed a significant 4% of the variance, indicating that when social support is high, the relation between anxiety and maternal-fetal attachment intensity/frequency is attenuated.
Conclusions:
This study demonstrates that prenatal attachment is related to trait anxiety and social support. These findings suggest that interventions to decrease anxiety and increase social support could enhance maternal-fetal attachment.
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