Maternal-infant bonding and perceptions of infant temperament: The mediating role of maternal mental health

Background: There are associations between maternal mental health (anxiety and depression), maternal-infant bonding, and infant temperament. However, few studies have examined these variables simultaneously, and none have applied a parallel mediation analysis to consider maternal mental health as an explanatory variable. We aimed to examine these relationships, and whether mental health (anxiety and/or depression) mediates the observed association between maternal-infant bonding and infant temperament.

Methods: Mothers with babies between zero and twelve months (N=527) were recruited to a cross-sectional online survey containing a battery of psychometric measures.

Results: Correlation analyses examined relationships between the predictor (maternal-infant bonding), outcome (infant temperament), and mediator (maternal mental health; anxiety and/or depression). All associations were highly significant (p<.001). A parallel mediation (anxiety and/or depression) model was conducted, showing a significant indirect effect of maternal-infant bonding on infant temperament through anxiety, B = .04 (SE= .01) 95% CI= .01 to .07, but not through depression.

Limitations: Homogeneous sampling was an issue with mainly UK, married mothers, with higher socio-economic status and educational attainment participating. Therefore, further replication in diverse samples is required.

Conclusion: Associations were identified between maternal-infant bonding, infant temperament, and maternal mental health (anxiety and depression). However, only anxiety mediated the relationship between bonding and temperament. Healthcare professionals should consider the role of maternal anxiety when working with mothers who present with relational issues or report their infant as excessively challenging. These results signify the need to address maternal anxious and depressive symptoms as distinct issues considering their differential effects on parenting behaviour.