Abstract
Repetitive thinking (RT) predicts and maintains depression and anxiety, yet the role of RT in the perinatal context has been under-researched. Further, the content and themes that emerge during RT in the perinatal period have been minimally investigated. We recruited an online community sample of women who had their first baby within the past 12 months (n = 236). Participants completed a battery of self-report questionnaires which included four open-ended questions about the content of their RT. Responses to the latter were analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis approach. Participants reported RT about a range of unexpected emotional responses to becoming a new mother, impact on their sleep and cognitive functioning, as well as the impact on their identity, sense of self, lifestyle, achievements, and ability to function. RT was commonly experienced in first-time mothers, and the themes that emerged conveyed an overall sense of discrepancy between expectations and reality, as well as adjustment to profound change. By providing insight into the content of RT in new mothers, the findings of our study have scope to inform the content of interventions that seek to prevent and treat postnatal mental health problems, particularly those which target key psychological processes such as RT.
Highlights
Depressive rumination refers to the tendency to respond to sad mood and related symptoms by dwelling on their causes, meanings and consequences (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2008)
Worry in the first trimester predicts depression in the third trimester (Schmidt et al, 2016), and rumination predicts increases in depression symptoms from the third trimester to 8 weeks postpartum
Despite a growing body of evidence that Repetitive thinking (RT) plays a role in psychological adjustment in the perinatal period, the themes that characterize RT in postnatal women have not been investigated
Summary
Depressive rumination refers to the tendency to respond to sad mood and related symptoms by dwelling on their causes, meanings and consequences (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1991; Nolen-Hoeksema et al, 2008). Worry represents another example of repetitive thinking (RT) and is characterized by perseverative thinking about future threat. Both of these types of RT are well-established predictors of the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety, respectively. RT interacts with other factors (e.g., level of social functioning; O’Mahen et al, 2010; perfectionism; Egan et al, 2017) to predict postnatal depression symptoms
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