Abstract
Background
The quality of the relationship between mother and infant may have profound implications for the development of a child. Early indicators of psychological vulnerability may allow targeting of support for the child's cognitive, emotional and social development. A challenging mother–infant relationship could be one indicator of risk.
Aims
This study examined variations in psychological well-being and psychopathology among boys and girls according to early maternal perception of the mother–infant relationship.
Method
This study is based on 64 663 mother–infant pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort, for which data on the mother–infant relationship were collected at 6 months postpartum. Behavioural problems were assessed with the Danish version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at child ages 7, 11 and 18 years, and we retrieved information on diagnosed childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs from Danish registries.
Results
Children in the challenging mother–infant relationship group had higher odds of behavioural problems at age 7 among both boys and girls. The same pattern of elevated estimates was identified for boys across all SDQ domains and for girls in three of five SDQ domains. All associations were attenuated at age 18, but increased odds of behavioural problems still existed. A challenging early mother–infant relationship increased the offspring's risk of being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or being prescribed a psychotropic drug before the age of 18.
Conclusion
A challenging self-reported mother–infant relationship was associated with later psychopathological difficulties. Routine clinical enquiry may be useful in identification of future vulnerability.
The quality of the relationship between mother and infant may have profound implications for the development of a child. Early indicators of psychological vulnerability may allow targeting of support for the child's cognitive, emotional and social development. A challenging mother–infant relationship could be one indicator of risk.
Aims
This study examined variations in psychological well-being and psychopathology among boys and girls according to early maternal perception of the mother–infant relationship.
Method
This study is based on 64 663 mother–infant pairs from the Danish National Birth Cohort, for which data on the mother–infant relationship were collected at 6 months postpartum. Behavioural problems were assessed with the Danish version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) at child ages 7, 11 and 18 years, and we retrieved information on diagnosed childhood and adolescent psychiatric disorders and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs from Danish registries.
Results
Children in the challenging mother–infant relationship group had higher odds of behavioural problems at age 7 among both boys and girls. The same pattern of elevated estimates was identified for boys across all SDQ domains and for girls in three of five SDQ domains. All associations were attenuated at age 18, but increased odds of behavioural problems still existed. A challenging early mother–infant relationship increased the offspring's risk of being diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder or being prescribed a psychotropic drug before the age of 18.
Conclusion
A challenging self-reported mother–infant relationship was associated with later psychopathological difficulties. Routine clinical enquiry may be useful in identification of future vulnerability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e39 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | BJPsych Open |
| Volume | 9 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 20 Feb 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Mar 2023 |
Bibliographical note
cknowledgmentsThe DNBC was established with a significant grant from the Danish National Research Foundation. Additional support was obtained from the Danish Regional Committees, the Pharmacy Foundation, the Egmont Foundation, the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation, the Health Foundation and other minor grants. The DNBC Biobank has been supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Lundbeck Foundation. Follow-up of mothers and children have been supported by the Danish Medical Research Council (SSVF 0646, 271-08-0839/06-066023, O602-01042B, 0602-02738B), the Lundbeck Foundation (195/04, R100-A9193), The Innovation Fund Denmark 0603-00294B (09-067124), the Nordea Foundation (02-2013-2014), Aarhus Ideas (AU R9-A959-13-S804), University of Copenhagen Strategic Grant (IFSV 2012), and the Danish Council for Independent Research (DFF – 4183-00594 and DFF – 4183-00152).
Funding
This work was supported by TRYGfonden (grant number 125227).
Keywords
- attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder
- autistic spectrum disorder
- conduct disorder
- epidemiology
- personality disorder
Access to Document
- Rasmussen_etal_BJPO_Association_Of_Self_VoR
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.