Mothers’ implicit and explicit attitudes towards infant crying: predicting postpartum depressive symptoms

Abstract

ABSTRACT The current study addressed whether mothers' explicitly expressed and implicitly held attitudes towards infant crying (n = 71) differ with each other and how these two types of attitudes relate to mothers' depressive symptoms during the transition to parenthood. Neither mothers' explicit nor implicit attitudes towards infant crying predicted mothers' postnatal depressive symptoms. Mothers' explicit infant-oriented attitudes (i.e. attachment and communication) were found to moderate the links between mothers' implicit attitudes of infant crying-positive attributes and mothers' postpartum depressive symptoms. The present study provides empirical support for the application of a dual process framework to understand how pregnant women perceive infants' crying. The findings suggest that mental health supports urgently needs be offered to mothers with depressive symptoms.