Does Parental Reflective Functioning Mediate the Associations between the Maternal Antenatal and Postnatal Bond with the Child in a Community Sample?

Chiara Pazzagli, Livia Buratta, Giulia Cenci, Elena Coletti, Maria Luisa Giuliani and Claudia Mazzeschi
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Chiara Pazzagli: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Livia Buratta: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Giulia Cenci: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Elena Coletti: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Maria Luisa Giuliani: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy
Claudia Mazzeschi: Department of Philosophy, Social Sciences and Education, University of Perugia, 06123 Perugia, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Although establishing an affective tie with a child during perinatality is considered one of the most important maternal tasks, little is still known about the mediators of the association between maternal antenatal and postnatal bonding with the infant. This prospective study addresses this gap by evaluating a community sample of 110 Italian women to assess whether maternal pre- and postnatal bonds with the infant are mediated by parental reflective functioning (PRF), as assessed at the third trimester of pregnancy and three months postpartum. Controlling for confounding variables, the hierarchical regression analyses show the maternal prenatal quality of attachment to the fetus as the main predictor of maternal postnatal attachment to the child (β = 0.315; t = 0.2.86; p = 0.005). The mediation analyses show that mothers’ PRF (b = 0.245; SE = 0.119; 95% CI = 0.071, 0.531) explains 39% of the relationship between maternal pre- and postnatal bonding with the child. The findings of this study contribute to research on the association between prenatal and mother-to-infant bonding by additionally investigating the importance of taking into account maternal PRF as a mediating variable. This provides support for the clinical utility of interventions focused on maternal PRF.

Keywords: maternal–fetal attachment; maternal postnatal attachment; perinatality; parent-to-infant bonding; parental reflective functioning; PRFQ; mediation analyses; prospective study (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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