- Title
- Parenting stress and depression in asthmatic mothers: relationships to infant development
- Creator
- Armstrong, Helen
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Masters Research - Master of Clinical Psychology (MClinPsych)
- Description
- Background: Large, separate bodies of literature demonstrate that both maternal psychological distress and asthma represent significant pathways through which infant development may be adversely affected. However, the combined, longer term effects of these phenomena on infant development are not well understood. Method: Mother-infant dyads were recruited as part of the Breathing for Life: Infant Development Trial. 31 asthmatic mothers and their infant were recruited at 6 weeks postpartum, when parenting stress and postnatal depression were measured using the Parenting Stress Index (Short Form) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. At six months, mother-infant dyads were tested again, using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III. Results: Higher scores of maternal depression at six weeks postpartum predicted poorer expressive language and adaptive behaviour skills of infants at six months. Additionally, higher levels of parenting stress at 6 weeks predicted poorer social emotional skills at 6 months. Asthmatic mothers also had significantly higher levels of postnatal depression, but significantly lower levels of parenting stress, compared to norms. Conclusion: These results help to describe the particular mental health status of asthmatic mothers, and how this is associated with infant developmental prospects. They suggest that both maternal stress and depression may be contributing to poorer infant outcomes across a range of domains; specifically, social-emotional, adaptive behaviour and expressive language development. Limitations and implications of these results are discussed. Future studies are encouraged to further explore the mechanisms through which asthma and maternal psychological distress affect infant development.
- Subject
- asthma; infant development; maternal depression; parenting stress
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1351661
- Identifier
- uon:30754
- Rights
- Copyright 2017 Helen Armstrong
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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