Related Experiment Video

Updated: Dec 25, 2025

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
06:39

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

Published on: June 13, 2021

3.4K

Do early parental postnatal depression, attachment style and perceived social support affect neurodevelopmental

Tuba Çelen Yoldaş1, Hasan Tolga Çelik2, Gökçenur Özdemir1

  • 1Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Ankara, Turkey.

Infant Behavior & Development
|April 4, 2020
PubMed

Insights

Parental mental health impacts premature infant development. Fathers' depression affected cognitive skills, while mothers' anxious attachment influenced language development in preterm infants.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal development
  • Perinatal mental health
  • Parental psychology

Background:

  • Premature birth is stressful, increasing parental postnatal depression (PND) risk.
  • Mothers may experience delayed attachment due to medical factors.
  • Social support is crucial, but paternal factors are understudied.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the impact of parental PND, attachment style, and social support on premature infant development.
  • To consider prematurity degree and risk groups in the analysis.
  • To identify specific parental factors influencing neurodevelopmental outcomes.

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study of 96 preterm infants.
  • Parents completed EPDS, AASS, and MSPSS at 3 months corrected age.
  • Infant development assessed using Bayley III at 6 and 18 months corrected age.

Main Results:

  • Mothers reported higher PND than fathers; attachment and social support were similar.
  • Fathers' depression inversely correlated with cognitive development (p=0.030).
  • Mothers' anxious/ambivalent attachment inversely correlated with language development (p=0.011) at 6 months.

Conclusions:

  • Parental well-being is critical for improving premature infant outcomes.
  • Interventions should address fathers' depressive symptoms.
  • Maternal anxious/ambivalent attachment also requires attention for better infant development.
Abstract

Keywords:
Child developmentParental attachmentPostnatal depressionPremature infantSocial support

More Related Videos

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale19:15

Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale

Published on: August 25, 2014

87.3K
Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Early Adolescent Male Mice07:06

Chronic Social Defeat Stress in Early Adolescent Male Mice

Published on: January 24, 2025

1.3K

Related Concept Videos

Relationship with Parents: Attachment01:28

Relationship with Parents: Attachment

Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
166
Socioemotional Development during Infancy01:30

Socioemotional Development during Infancy

Socio-emotional development in infancy is primarily shaped by early emotional responses and social connections, with temperament playing a central role. Temperament refers to the consistent patterns in an individual's emotional and behavioral responses, observable even in infancy. By examining temperament, researchers can better understand an infant's unique ways of interacting with the world, influencing subsequent personality and socio-emotional growth.
Primary Temperament Types
342
Attachment01:20

Attachment

Attachment is vital for infant development, as warm social interactions support growth and well-being. In a classic 1958 study by Harry Harlow, the significance of warmth and comfort in forming attachments was examined. Harlow separated newborn monkeys from their mothers and provided two artificial "mothers": one made of cold wire and the other covered in soft cloth. Despite the wire mother offering food, the infant monkeys preferred the comfort of the cloth mother, demonstrating that...
413
Attachment Styles01:24

Attachment Styles

Jeffrey Simpson's attachment theory suggests that early caregiver relationships shape lasting patterns of behavior and emotional regulation, known as attachment styles. These patterns are organized along two key dimensions: self-esteem and interpersonal trust. The intersection of these dimensions produces four primary attachment styles that typically persist throughout life and significantly influence how individuals form and maintain relationships.Secure Attachment StyleIndividuals with a...
173
Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood03:34

Theory of Romantic Attachment in Adulthood

Attachment is a long-standing connection or bond with others. While Attachment Theory was conceived in developmental psychology to describe infant-caregiver bonding, it's been extended into adulthood to include romantic relationships. 
48.5K
Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles01:28

Hazan and Shaver's Attachment Styles

Attachment theory, developed initially to explain infant–caregiver bonds, has been extended to illuminate patterns of intimacy in adult romantic relationships. Psychologists Cindy Hazan and Phillip Shaver proposed that the attachment styles observed in infancy form a framework for how individuals approach emotional closeness and conflict in adulthood. These attachment styles—secure, avoidant, and anxious—are linked to enduring patterns of behavior and emotional regulation in...
305