Adult Attachment, the Transition to Parenthood, and Depressive Symptoms

Testing a model suggested by J. Bowlby (1988) , this study investigated how a personal vulnerability (attachment ambivalence) interacts with perceptions of deficient spousal support before and during a major life stressor (the transition to parenthood) to predict pre-to-postnatal increases in depres...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of personality and social psychology 2003-06, Vol.84 (6), p.1172-1187
Main Authors: Simpson, Jeffry A, Rholes, W. Steven, Campbell, Lorne, Tran, Sisi, Wilson, Carol L
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Adults
Ambivalence
Attachment Behavior
Biological and medical sciences
Depression
Depression - psychology
Developmental psychology
Female
Group dynamics
Human
Humans
Interpersonal relations
Major Depression
Male
Marital Relations
Medical sciences
Mental depression
Mood disorders
Object Attachment
Parenthood
Parenthood Status
Parenting
Parents & parenting
Personality
Psychological tests
Psychological Theory
Psychology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Social psychology
Social Support
Transfer (Psychology)
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Summary:Testing a model suggested by J. Bowlby (1988) , this study investigated how a personal vulnerability (attachment ambivalence) interacts with perceptions of deficient spousal support before and during a major life stressor (the transition to parenthood) to predict pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms. Highly ambivalent women who entered parenthood perceiving either less support or greater anger from their husbands experienced pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms at 6 months postpartum. The associations between these 2 prenatal interaction terms and pre-to-postnatal increases in depressive symptoms were mediated by perceptions of declining spousal support across the transition period. Moreover, for highly ambivalent women, the association between prenatal and postnatal depression scores was mediated by perceptions of the amount of support available from their husbands.
ISSN:0022-3514
1939-1315
DOI:10.1037/0022-3514.84.6.1172