Abstract
Background:Despite its clinical and public policy-making importance, neonatal abuse has been only minimally studied.Purpose:To identify predictors of mothers’ emotional abuse towards their infants at 1 month after childbirth.Methods:We studied a cohort of 252 women at three time points: late pregnancy and 5 days and 1 month after childbirth. At each time point, the women were administered a set of questionnaires about their depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), bonding towards the foetus or neonate (Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale and Postnatal Bonding Questionnaire, respectively), and, at 1 month after childbirth, emotional abuse (Conflict Tactic Scale).Results:Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that neonatal emotional abuse was predicted by bonding difficulties at 5 days after childbirth but not by depression at that time point.Conclusion:Assessment for maternal bonding problems in the early post-natal period should be routinely performed by perinatal health professionals.
Highlights
Child abuse is an important psychological, educational, and legal issue worldwide
The women were administered a set of questionnaires about their depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), bonding towards the foetus or neonate (Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale and Postnatal Bonding Questionnaire, respectively), and, at 1 month after childbirth, emotional abuse (Conflict Tactic Scale)
Structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis revealed that neonatal emotional abuse was predicted by bonding difficulties at 5 days after childbirth but not by depression at that time point
Summary
Child abuse is an important psychological, educational, and legal issue worldwide. There is ample evidence suggesting that past experiences of neglect and child physical, psychological, and sexual abuse increase the risk of a1874-9224/16 2016 Bentham Open28 The Open Family Studies Journal, 2016, Volume 8 range of psychiatric disorders, substance use disorders, suicide attempts, sexually transmitted infections, and risky sexual behaviour in later life [1]. Child abuse is an important psychological, educational, and legal issue worldwide. There is ample evidence suggesting that past experiences of neglect and child physical, psychological, and sexual abuse increase the risk of a. The annual incidence of infant abuse reported to the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System in the United States was 23.2 cases per 1,000 [2]. In 39% of cases the infants were less than 1 month old, and about 80% of instances occurred within 1 week after childbirth. Neonates and infants are at particular risk of child abuse. In Japan, despite the clinical importance of infant and neonatal abuse, virtually no empirical studies have been conducted on abuse of infants aged less than 1 month. Despite its clinical and public policy-making importance, neonatal abuse has been only minimally studied. Purpose: To identify predictors of mothers’ emotional abuse towards their infants at 1 month after childbirth
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