Dispositional mindfulness has been shown to protect against affective symptoms in the general population. However, little is known about whether and how these benefits may extend to a particularly high-risk period for affective distress—early parenthood. In this study, we tested within-person and between-person associations between maternal mindfulness and symptoms of anxiety and depression across the first 18 months postnatal. We further investigated whether mindfulness moderated the effect of life stress on mothers’ symptoms. Participants were 89 mothers aged 18–44 years (M = 27.01, SD = 5.39) from a larger longitudinal study on mother-infant stress regulation. Mothers completed measures of dispositional mindfulness, life stress, anxiety, and depression at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months postnatal. Hierarchical linear modeling was used to assess the associations between mindfulness and life stress and symptoms of both anxiety and depression over time. Absolute levels of maternal mindfulness predicted lower maternal depressive symptoms at 18 months (β = − 314, SE = .123, p = .013), and relative increases in mindfulness predicted concurrent decreases in anxiety (β = − .251, SE = .076, p = .002) and depressive symptoms (β = − .464, SE = .088, p < .001) across time points. There was no evidence for moderated effects; rather, life stress related independently to overall levels of anxiety (β = .495, SE = .170, p = .005) and depression (β = .341, SE = .147, p = .023) at 18 months. Implications for understanding mindfulness as a dynamic construct and potential applications to improving perinatal mental health are discussed.
Met onderstaand(e) abonnement(en) heeft u direct toegang:
BSL Psychologie Totaal
Met BSL Psychologie Totaal blijft u als professional steeds op de hoogte van de nieuwste ontwikkelingen binnen uw vak. Met het online abonnement heeft u toegang tot een groot aantal boeken, protocollen, vaktijdschriften en e-learnings op het gebied van psychologie en psychiatrie. Zo kunt u op uw gemak en wanneer het u het beste uitkomt verdiepen in uw vakgebied.
Agrati, D., Browne, D., Jonas, W., Meaney, M., Atkinson, L., Steiner, M., & Fleming, A. S. (2015). Maternal anxiety from pregnancy to 2 years postpartum: transactional patterns of maternal early adversity and child temperament.
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 18(5), 693–705.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-014-0491-y.
CrossRefPubMed
Baer, R. A., Smith, G. T., Lykins, E., Button, D., Kreitemeyer, J., Sauer, et al. (2008). Construct validity of the five facet mindfulness questionnaire in meditating and nonmeditating samples.
Assessment, 15, 329–342.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1073191107313003.
CrossRefPubMed
Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(6), 893–897.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.56.6.893.
CrossRefPubMed
Bergomi, C., Ströhle, G., Michalak, J., Funke, F., & Berking, M. (2013). Facing the dreaded: does mindfulness facilitate coping with distressing experiences? A moderator analysis.
Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 42(1), 21–30.
https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2012.713391.
CrossRefPubMed
Bishop, S. R., Lau, M., Shapiro, S., Carlson, L., Anderson, N. D., Carmody, J., et al. (2004). Mindfulness: a proposed operational definition.
Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 11(3), 230–241.
https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bph077.
CrossRef
Braeken, M. A. K. A., Jones, A., Otte, R. A., Nyklíček, I., & Van, d. B. (2016). Potential benefits of mindfulness during pregnancy on maternal autonomic nervous system function and infant development.
Psychophysiology, 54(2), 279–288.
https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.12782.
CrossRefPubMed
Brennan, P. A., Hammen, C., Andersen, M. J., Bor, W., Najman, J. M., & Williams, G. M. (2000). Chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms: relationships with child outcomes at age 5.
Developmental Psychology, 36(6), 759–766.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.6.759.
CrossRefPubMed
Dimidjian, S., Goodman, S. H., Felder, J. N., Gallop, R., Brown, A. P., & Beck, A. (2016). Staying well during pregnancy and the postpartum: a pilot randomized trial of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy for the prevention of depressive relapse/recurrence.
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 84(2), 134–145.
https://doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000068.
CrossRefPubMed
Dohrenwend, B. S., Krasnoff, L., Askenasy, A. R., & Dohrenwend, B. P. (1978). Exemplification of a method for scaling life events: the PERI life events scale.
Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 19(2), 205–229.
https://doi.org/10.2307/2136536.
CrossRefPubMed
Duncan, L. G., Cohn, M. A., Chao, M. T., Cook, J. G., Riccobono, J., & Bardacke, N. (2017). Benefits of preparing for childbirth with mindfulness training: a randomized controlled trial with active comparison.
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 17(1).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-017-1319-3.
Dunn, C., Hanieh, E., Roberts, R., & Powrie, R. (2012). Mindful pregnancy and childbirth: effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on women’s psychological distress and well-being in the perinatal period.
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 15(2), 139–143.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-012-0264-4.
CrossRefPubMed
Feldman, G., Lavallee, J., Gildawie, K., & Greeson, J. M. (2016). Dispositional mindfulness uncouples physiological and emotional reactivity to a laboratory stressor and emotional reactivity to executive functioning lapses in daily life.
Mindfulness, 7(2), 527–541.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-015-0487-3.
CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
Laurent, H. K., Ablow, J. C., & Measelle, J. (2011). Risky shifts: how the timing and course of mothers’ depressive symptoms across the perinatal period shape their own and infant’s stress response profiles.
Development and Psychopathology, 23(2), 521–538.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579411000083.
CrossRefPubMed
Luoma, I., Tamminen, T., Kaukonen, P., Laippala, P., Puura, K., Salmelin, R., & Almqvist, F. (2001). Longitudinal study of maternal depressive symptoms and child well-being.
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 40(12), 1367–1374.
https://doi.org/10.1097/00004583-200112000-00006.
CrossRef
Marks, A. D., Sobanski, D. J., & Hine, D. W. (2010). Do dispositional rumination and/or mindfulness moderate the relationship between life hassles and psychological dysfunction in adolescents?
Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44(9), 831–838.
https://doi.org/10.3109/00048674.2010.487478.
CrossRef
Monti, F., Agostini, F., Marano, G., & Lupi, F. (2008). The course of maternal depressive symptomatology during the first 18 months postpartum in an Italian sample.
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 11(3), 231–238.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-008-0017-6.
CrossRefPubMed
Nitschke, J. B., Heller, W., Imig, J. C., McDonald, R. P., & Miller, G. A. (2001). Distinguishing dimensions of anxiety and depression.
Cognitive Therapy and Research, 25(1), 1–22.
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026485530405.
CrossRef
Perez-Blasco, J., Viguer, P., & Rodrigo, M. F. (2013). Effects of a mindfulness-based intervention on psychological distress, well-being, and maternal self-efficacy in breast-feeding mothers: results of a pilot study.
Archives of Women's Mental Health, 16(3), 227–236.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0337-z.
CrossRefPubMed
Potharst, E. S., Aktar, E., Rexwinkel, M., Rigterink, M., & Bögels, S. M. (2017). Mindful with your baby: feasibility, acceptability, and effects of a mindful parenting group training for mothers and their babies in a mental health context.
Mindfulness.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-017-0699-9.
Quaglia, J. T., Braun, S. E., Freeman, S. P., McDaniel, M. A., & Brown, K. W. (2016). Meta analytic evidence for effects of mindfulness training on dimensions of self-reported dispositional mindfulness.
Psychological Assessment, 28(7), 803–818.
https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0000268.
CrossRefPubMed
Rowe, H. J., Calcagni, S. C., Galgut, S., Michelmore, J., & Fisher, J. R. W. (2014). Self management of mild to moderate anxiety in women who have recently given birth: development and acceptability of a theoretically sound complex intervention.
International Journal of Mental Health Promotion, 16(5), 308–319.
https://doi.org/10.1080/14623730.2014.964050.
CrossRef
Spielberg, J. M., Heller, W., Silton, R. L., Stewart, J. L., & Miller, G. A. (2011). Approach and avoidance profiles distinguish dimensions of anxiety and depression.
Cognitive Therapy and Research, 35(4), 359–371.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-011-9364-0.
CrossRef
van den Heuvel, M. I., Donkers, F. C. L., Winkler, I., Otte, R. A., & Van, d. B. (2015). Maternal mindfulness and anxiety during pregnancy affect infants’ neural responses to sounds.
Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 10(3), 453–460.
https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsu075.
CrossRefPubMed
Over dit artikel
Titel
Assessing the Impact of Mindfulness and Life Stress on Maternal Well-Being