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Predictive Importance of Antenatal Depressive Rumination and Worrying for Maternal–Foetal Attachment and Maternal Well-Being

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Abstract

Rumination and worrying are relevant to the onset and maintenance of depression and anxiety. Yet, it is unclear, whether depressive rumination and worrying are predictive for depressive and anxious symptomatology during pregnancy. Likewise, the potential role of depressive rumination and worrying for maternal–foetal attachment has been rarely explored. In the present longitudinal study, N = 215 pregnant women were assessed within the first 4 months of pregnancy and again in the last 4 months of pregnancy. Using regression analysis, associations between worrying and depressive rumination on the one hand and maternal–foetal attachment, depression and anxiety on the other were studied—controlling for age, number of children, social support and baseline antenatal depressive and anxious symptoms. Baseline rumination was a significant predictor of impairments in maternal–foetal attachment in later pregnancy. Baseline worrying was a significant predictor of heightened depressive symptoms and anxiety. These effects were of modest magnitude. Nonetheless, our findings reveal that different types of perseverative thinking (i.e., rumination vs. worry) might have differential effects on maternal well-being and maternal–foetal attachment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the women who participated in this study. Thank you to Lisa Kösters for help with data collection and data entry.

Funding

This study was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to Sabine Seehagen (2154/4-1) and Tobias Teismann (TE747/2-1).

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  1. Sabine Seehagen

    Present address: University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Massenbergstraße 9-13, 44787, Bochum, Germany

    Dana Schmidt, Sabine Seehagen & Silvia Schneider

  2. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Universität Osnabrück, Osnabrück, Germany

    Silja Vocks

  3. Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Tobias Teismann

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  1. Dana Schmidt
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Correspondence to Dana Schmidt.

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Dana Schmidt, Sabine Seehagen, Silja Vocks, Silvia Schneider and Tobias Teismann declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Schmidt, D., Seehagen, S., Vocks, S. et al. Predictive Importance of Antenatal Depressive Rumination and Worrying for Maternal–Foetal Attachment and Maternal Well-Being. Cogn Ther Res 40, 565–576 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10608-016-9759-z

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