Abstract
Objectives
To investigate maternal prenatal anxiety and depression in high-risk pregnancies and examine their influence on maternal–fetal attachment.
Methods
We included 95 hospitalized high-risk pregnant women. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI) were used to assess the primary objective. Internal consistency and construct validity of the PAI were investigated.
Results
The average age was 31 years and gestational age ranged from 26 to 41 weeks. Prevalence of depressive symptoms was 20% and anxiety symptoms 39%. Cronbach alpha coefficient of the PAI Tunisian version was 0.8 and the construct validity in favour of one factor model. PAI scores correlated negatively and significatively with the HADS total score (r = − 0.218, p = 0.034) and was attributed to the depression dimension only (r = − 0.205, p = 0.046).
Conclusions for Practice
Emotional wellbeing of pregnant women especially in high-risk pregnancies should be explored in order to prevent consequences on women, their growing fetus, and prenatal attachment.
Significance
What is already known? Maternal prenatal emotional well-being influences maternal–fetal attachment which has important implications on postnatal bonding. Anxiety and depression disorders during pregnancy could affect women’s attachment to their unborn child in a negative way. Research has largely been conducted with the general pregnant population with little focus on at-risk pregnancies, which are associated with increased levels of mood disorders.
What this paper adds? This study highlights the impact of depression but not situational anxiety on maternal–fetal attachment in women with high-risk pregnancies, highlighting the importance of assessing and managing psychological disorders during pregnancy to enhance the quality of prenatal bonding.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of Data and Material
Data are available from the corresponding author.
References
Abasi, E., Tafazzoli, M., Esmaily, H., & Hasanabadi, H. (2013). The effect of maternal–fetal attachment education on maternal mental health. Turkish Journal of Medical Sciences, 43(5), 815–820.
Alhusen, J. L., Gross, D., Hayat, M. J., Rose, L., & Sharps, P. (2012). The role of mental health on maternal-fetal attachment in low-income women. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 41(6), E71-81. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2012.01385.x
Alhusen, J. L., Hayat, M. J., & Gross, D. (2013). A longitudinal study of maternal attachment and infant developmental outcomes. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 16(6), 521–529. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-013-0357-8
Arafah, D., Thomas, B., Fenton, T. R., Sabr, Y., & Metcalfe, A. (2021). Validity and reliability of the Arabic version of Muller’s prenatal attachment inventory. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 42(3), 212–220. https://doi.org/10.1080/0167482x.2020.1713083
Asplin, N., Wessel, H., Marions, L., & Georgsson Öhman, S. (2015). Maternal emotional wellbeing over time and attachment to the fetus when a malformation is detected. Sex Reprod Healthc, 6(3), 191–195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srhc.2015.04.003
Barone, L., Lionetti, F., & Dellagiulia, A. (2014). Maternal-fetal attachment and its correlates in a sample of Italian women: A study using the Prenatal Attachment Inventory. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 32(3), 230–239. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2014.883596
Bartlett, M. S. (1954). A note on the multiplying factors for various χ 2 approximations. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series B (Methodological), 296–298.
Bielawska-Batorowicz, E., & Siddiqui, A. (2008). A study of prenatal attachment with Swedish and Polish expectant mothers. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 26(4), 373–384.
Brandon, A. R., Trivedi, M. H., Hynan, L. S., Miltenberger, P. D., Labat, D. B., Rifkin, J. B., & Stringer, C. A. (2008). Prenatal depression in women hospitalized for obstetric risk. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 69(4), 635–643.
Busonera, A., Cataudella, S., Lampis, J., Tommasi, M., & Zavattini, G. C. (2017). Prenatal Attachment Inventory: Expanding the reliability and validity evidence using a sample of Italian women. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 35(5), 462–479. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2017.1349896
Cattell, R. B. (1966). The scree test for the number of factors. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 1(2), 245–276.
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, 7(3), 309.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee Opinion no. 630. Screening for perinatal depression. (2015). Obstetrics and Gynecology, 125(5), 1268–1271. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.AOG.0000465192.34779.dc
Condon, J. T. (1993). The assessment of antenatal emotional attachment: Development of a questionnaire instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 66(Pt 2), 167–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8341.1993.tb01739.x
Cranley, M. S. (1981). Development of a tool for the measurement of maternal attachment during pregnancy. Nursing Research, 30(5), 281–284.
Cranley, M. S. (1993). The origins of the mother-child relationship: A review. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 12(2–3), 39–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/J006v12n02_03
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests [journal article]. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297–334. https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02310555
Damato, E. G. (2000). Maternal-fetal attachment in twin pregnancies. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing, 29(6), 598–605. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.2000.tb02073.x
De Cock, E. S., Henrichs, J., Vreeswijk, C. M., Maas, A. J., Rijk, C. H., & van Bakel, H. J. (2016). Continuous feelings of love? The parental bond from pregnancy to toddlerhood. Journal of Family Psychology, 30(1), 125–134. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000138
Della Vedova, A. M., Dabrassi, F., & Imbasciati, A. (2008). Assessing prenatal attachment in a sample of Italian women. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 26(2), 86–98.
Dimassi, K., Benzina, F., Ksouri, A., Ben Zina, E., Kamassi, N., Rakkam, A., & Rafrafi, R. (2020). Tunisian Women’s childbirth experience. Tunisie Medicale, 98(7), 556–566.
el-Rufaie, O. E., & Absood, G. (1987). Validity study of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale among a group of Saudi patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 687–688.
Foley, S., Hughes, C., Murray, A. L., Baban, A., Fernando, A. D., Madrid, B., & Eisner, M. (2021). Prenatal attachment: Using measurement invariance to test the validity of comparisons across eight culturally diverse countries. Archives of Womens Mental Health, 24(4), 619–625. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-021-01105-8
Gau, M. L., & Lee, T. Y. (2003). Construct validity of the prenatal attachment inventory: a confirmatory factor analysis approach. Journal of Nursing Research, 11(3), 177–187.
Gobel, A., Stuhrmann, L. Y., Harder, S., Schulte-Markwort, M., & Mudra, S. (2018). The association between maternal-fetal bonding and prenatal anxiety: An explanatory analysis and systematic review. Journal of Affective Disorders, 239, 313–327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.024
Guedeney, A., Guedeney, N., Tereno, S., Dugravier, R., Greacen, T., Welniarz, B., Group C. (2011). Infant rhythms versus parental time: promoting parent-infant synchrony. Journal of Physiology, Paris, 105(4–6), 195–200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2011.07.005
Hart, R., & McMahon, C. A. (2006). Mood state and psychological adjustment to pregnancy. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 9(6), 329–337. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-006-0141-0
Holness, N. (2018). High-Risk Pregnancy. Nursing Clinics of North America, 53(2), 241–251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cnur.2018.01.010
Honjo, S., Arai, S., Kaneko, H., Ujiie, T., Murase, S., Sechiyama, H., & Inoko, K. (2003). Antenatal depression and maternal-fetal attachment. Psychopathology, 36(6), 304–311. https://doi.org/10.1159/000075189
Hopkins, J., Miller, J. L., Butler, K., Gibson, L., Hedrick, L., & Boyle, D. A. (2018). The relation between social support, anxiety and distress symptoms and maternal fetal attachment. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 36(4), 381–392. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2018.1466385
Julian, L. J. (2011). Measures of anxiety: State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A). Arthritis Care & Research, 63 Suppl 11(0 11), 467–472. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.20561
Jurgens, M. A., Levy-Rueff, M., Goffinet, F., Golse, B., & Beauquier-Macotta, B. (2010). Psychometric properties of the French version of the prenatal attachment inventory in 112 pregnant women. Encephale, 36(3), 219–225. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.encep.2009.06.006. (Etude des proprietes psychometriques d'une echelle d'attachement prenatal. Version francaise de la Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI, Muller, 1993).).
Kaiser, H. F. (1970). A second generation little jiffy. Psychometrika, 35(4), 401–415.
King, N. M., Chambers, J., O’Donnell, K., Jayaweera, S. R., Williamson, C., & Glover, V. A. (2010). Anxiety, depression and saliva cortisol in women with a medical disorder during pregnancy. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 13(4), 339–345. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-009-0139-5
Lindgren, K. (2001). Relationships among maternal-fetal attachment, prenatal depression, and health practices in pregnancy. Research in Nursing and Health, 24(3), 203–217.
Mikhail, M. S., Freda, M. C., Merkatz, R. B., Polizzotto, R., Mazloom, E., & Merkatz, I. R. (1991). The effect of fetal movement counting on maternal attachment to fetus. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 165(4), 988–991. https://doi.org/10.1016/0002-9378(91)90455-z
Milgrom, J., & Gemmill, A. W. (2014). Screening for perinatal depression. Best Practice & Research Clinical Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 28(1), 13–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpobgyn.2013.08.014
Muller, M. E. (1993). Development of the prenatal attachment inventory. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 15(2), 199–211. https://doi.org/10.1177/019394599301500205. discussion 211–195.
Omani Samani, R., Maroufizadeh, S., Ezabadi, Z., Alizadeh, L., & Vesali, S. (2016). Psychometric properties of the persian version of the prenatal attachment inventory in pregnant Iranian women. International Journal of Fertility Sterility, 10(2), 184–189.
Ossa, X., Bustos, L., & Fernandez, L. (2012). Prenatal attachment and associated factors during the third trimester of pregnancy in Temuco. Chile. Midwifery, 28(5), e689-696. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2011.08.015
Ozcan, H., Ustundag, M. F., Yilmaz, M., Aydinoglu, U., Ersoy, A. O., & Eyi, E. G. Y. (2019). The relationships between prenatal attachment, basic personality traits, styles of coping with stress, depression, and anxiety, and marital adjustment among women in the third trimester of pregnancy. Eurasian Journal of Medicine, 51(3), 232–236. https://doi.org/10.5152/eurasianjmed.2019.15302
Palma, E., Armijo, I., Cifuentes, J., Ambiado, S., Rochet, P., Díaz, B., & Mena, C. (2021). Hospitalisation in high-risk pregnancy patients: is prenatal attachment affected? Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 39(1), 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2020.1740661
Rollè, L., Giordano, M., Santoniccolo, F., & Trombetta, T. (2020). Prenatal attachment and perinatal depression: A systematic review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17082644
Rubertsson, C., Pallant, J. F., Sydsjö, G., Haines, H. M., & Hildingsson, I. (2015). Maternal depressive symptoms have a negative impact on prenatal attachment—Findings from a Swedish community sample. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 33(2), 153–164. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2014.992009
Shieh, C., Kravitz, M., & Wang, H. H. (2001). What do we know about maternal-fetal attachment? Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences, 17(9), 448–454.
Siddiqui, A., & Hagglof, B. (2000). Does maternal prenatal attachment predict postnatal mother-infant interaction? Early Human Development, 59(1), 13–25.
Tani, F., Castagna, V., & Ponti, L. (2017). Mothers’ social perceived support, anxiety and prenatal attachment to child: Which direct and indirect influences on delivery clinical indices. Int J Health Sci Res, 7(4), 346–352.
Tichelman, E., Westerneng, M., Witteveen, A. B., van Baar, A. L., van der Horst, H. E., de Jonge, A., & Peters, L. L. (2019). PloS One, 14(9), 998. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222998
Udry-Jorgensen, L., Darwiche, J., Germond, M., Wunder, D., & Vial, Y. (2015). Anxiety, depression, and attachment before and after the first-trimester screening for Down syndrome: Comparing couples who undergo ART with those who conceive spontaneously. Prenatal Diagnosis, 35(13), 1287–1293. https://doi.org/10.1002/pd.4688
Van de Loo, K. F. E., Vlenterie, R., Nikkels, S. J., Merkus, P., Roukema, J., Verhaak, C. M., & van Gelder, M. (2018). Depression and anxiety during pregnancy: The influence of maternal characteristics. Birth, 45(4), 478–489. https://doi.org/10.1111/birt.12343
Vesga Lopez, O., Blanco, C., Keyes, K., Olfson, M., Grant, B., & S Hasin, D. (2008). Psychiatric Disorders in Pregnant and Postpartum Women in the United States (Vol. 65). https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.65.7.805
Yarcheski, A., Mahon, N. E., Yarcheski, T. J., Hanks, M. M., & Cannella, B. L. (2009). A meta-analytic study of predictors of maternal-fetal attachment. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 46(5), 708–715. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2008.10.013
Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983). The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67(6), 361–370. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0447.1983.tb09716.x
Funding
Not applicable.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors participated in the study: FT did the field investigation, the data curation, wrote the original draft of the manuscript and performed analysis. MH conceptualized the study with the design of methodology and reviewed and edited the manuscript. ABA recruited the patients and reviewed and edited the manuscript. MB helped with investigation and the data curation. RF reviewed the methodology and performed analysis. AT and AB supervised the work.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflict of interest
The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest.
Consent to Participate
All the participants gave their freely-given verbal informed consent to participate with the knowledge that the data will be processed anonymously for scientific purposes only.
Consent for Publication
All authors gave their consent to the publication.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Testouri, F., Hamza, M., Amor, A.B. et al. Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in At-Risk Pregnancy: Influence on Maternal–Fetal Attachment in Tunisia. Matern Child Health J 27, 2008–2016 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03736-y
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03736-y