Maternal-Infant Attachment and its Relationships with Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, Affective Instability, Stress, and Social Support in a Canadian Community Sample

As a crucial component of child development, maternal-infant attachment influences a child’s cognitive, psychological, and social development. Maternal depression, anxiety, stress, and social support have been identified as risk factors for poor maternal-infant attachment in some studies, while others did not find such relationships. The aim of this study was to examine the associations of maternal-infant attachment with depression, anxiety, affective instability, stress, social support, and other variables in a community sample of Canadian postpartum women. A total of 108 Canadian postpartum women participated in this cross-sectional study. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) assessed depression, anxiety, and stress, and the Affective lability Scale-18 measured affective instability (AI). Multiple linear regression was conducted to examine the association between maternal-infant attachment and other variables. The findings revealed a significant association of maternal-infant attachment with postpartum depression, and infant temperament, while anxiety, AI, stress, and social support were not identified as predictors for maternal-infant attachment. The results implicate the importance of addressing maternal depression and maternal-infant attachment, consequently decreasing the risk for childhood psychopathology.