Prenatal Perception of Infant Personality: A Preliminary Investigation

doi:10.1016/S0002-7138(09)60449-0

Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry

Volume 24, Issue 2, March 1985, Pages 204-210

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-7138(09)60449-0 Get rights and content

Thirty-five couples were recruited from childbirth classes for a study of their impressions of their firstborn infant's personality. Both mothers and fathers were found to have stable perceptions of their infant's temperament in late pregnancy and in early infancy. Additionally, the prenatal perceptions predicted the postnatal perceptions in several dimensions of temperament. Mothers whose perceptions of the infant's temperament changed substantially pre- to postnatally were found to have experienced labor as very different from what they had expected prenatally.

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There is some precedent in the literature for adapting this instrument for prenatal period (Vaughn, Deinard, & Egeland, 1980; Minnesota Mother–Infant Interaction Project) as well as greater precedent for adapting mother-report measures of infant temperament for use during pregnancy (e.g., Contreras, Rhodes, & Mangelsdorf, 1995; Diener, Goldstein, & Mangelsdorf, 1995; Mebert, 1989; Zeanah et al., 1985). Such adaptations are based on a theoretical and empirical literature documenting that mothers begin to develop representations of their infants during pregnancy that form the foundation for representations after birth (Lashley et al., 2009; Zeanah et al., 1985). The Parental Stress Index Short Form (PSI; Abidin, 1995).
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Non-depressed pregnant women's cognitions are characterised by a search for meaning, exploration of identity changes, and the setting of expectations associated with childbearing (Rubin, 1970). In addition, women experiencing difficulty in adjusting postnatally have often expressed ambivalent feelings towards becoming mothers (Kendell, 1985; Campbell et al., 1992), unrealistic expectations of the motherhood role (Chalmers and Chalmers, 1986), of natural abilities to cope (Warner et al., 1997), of the new-born's behaviours (Zeanah et al., 1985; Adcock, 1993), and relationship insecurities (Affonso and Sheptak, 1989). Studies from a range of fields, such as sociology, anthropology, feminist and psychodynamic research, have investigated the adjustment to parenthood and the variables that influence and predetermine the experience of new mothers.
to provide a methodologically robust and in-depth exploration of maternal expectations and beliefs in a non-clinical sample of Bulgarian mothers who described their ideas about motherhood postnatally.
qualitative study using face to face interviews for data collection.
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10 women, 7 primiparae and 3 multipara, aged 28–32 years, who gave birth within the last 18 months.
interviews were carried out using a semi-structured schedule. Discussions were audio-recorded with participants' consent, translated and transcribed. Thematic analysis was used under the contextualist theoretical framework.
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the way in which women view themselves as mothers during pregnancy can have a significant impact on their emotional well-being following birth. The implications of these findings are discussed with particular reference to promoting a successful adjustment to motherhood through appropriate antenatal care, focussing on maternal expectations about their new role.
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The whole world of their representations about the baby that takes origin in their past and from the time of the pregnancy is ready to crystallize with any observation or comment made around birth. The NBAS is a unique opportunity for them to discover their “real” baby.20–24 At the end of the assessment, the infant is often placed in front of the parents, perpendicularly, and the mother is asked to talk to him.
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One hundred one pregnant women identified as at risk for fetal anomaly due to advanced maternal age completed a survey targeting their decisions regarding prenatal testing and their psychological attachment to their pregnancy. Of these women, 38 opted for no prenatal testing, 32 underwent MSS, and 31 had amniocentesis in their current pregnancy.
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The results suggest that MSS may disrupt the developmental trajectory of the maternal–fetal bond even after favorable results are known. This may be due in part to the fact that the probabilistic nature of MSS results creates feelings of confusion rather than reassurance for many women following receipt of favorable results.
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: This work was supported in part by NIMH MH 16744, by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

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ARTICLEPrenatal Perception of Infant Personality: A Preliminary Investigation

This Journal

J. Pediat.

J. Pediat.

This Journal

Infant Behav. Develpm.

The concept of difficult temperament

Merrill-Palmer Quart.

Measurement of infant difficultness

Child Develpm.

Personality development and temperament

Validity of parental assessments of development and behavior

Amer. J. Dis. Child.

Revision of the infant temperament questionnaire

Pediatrics

Psychological state during first pregnancy

Amer. J. Orthopsychiat.

Toward a theory of infant temperament

The study of early temperament: measurement and conceptual issues

Child Developm.

ARTICLE
Prenatal Perception of Infant Personality: A Preliminary Investigation