Monochorionic Twins and the Early Mother-Infant Relationship: An Exploratory Observational Study of Mother-Infant Interaction in the Post-Partum Period

Chiara Ionio, Eleonora Mascheroni, Gianluca Lista, Caterina Colombo, Giulia Ciuffo, Marta Landoni, Irene Daniele and Merideth Gattis
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Chiara Ionio: CRIdee Unità di Ricerca sul Trauma, Psychology Department, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy
Eleonora Mascheroni: 0–3 Center for the at-Risk Infant, IRCCS Eugenio Medea, 23842 Lecco, Italy
Gianluca Lista: Neonatologia Patologia e Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Ospedale dei Bambini “Vittore Buzzi”, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, 20154 Milan, Italy
Caterina Colombo: Neonatologia Patologia e Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Ospedale dei Bambini “Vittore Buzzi”, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, 20154 Milan, Italy
Giulia Ciuffo: CRIdee, Psychology Department, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy
Marta Landoni: CRIdee, Psychology Department, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 20123 Milan, Italy
Irene Daniele: Neonatologia Patologia e Terapia Intensiva Neonatale, Ospedale dei Bambini “Vittore Buzzi”, ASST Fatebenefratelli Sacco, 20154 Milan, Italy
Merideth Gattis: School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: The extraordinary increase in twin rates and specifically monochorionic twin pregnancies represents a major public health issue due to the associated increased risks for the mother, the child and their relationship. The aim of the present study was to examine the quality of mothers’ behaviour during mother–infant interaction in the early postpartum period by comparing mothers of twins and mothers of singletons during face-to-face interaction with their infants. Demographic and clinical information was collected by trained research psychologists from the mothers’ and the childrens’ clinical records and from interviews with the mothers. At three months (corrected for prematurity), the interactions of the dyads (11 mother-twin infant dyads and 11 mother-singleton dyads) were filmed at participants’ homes in accordance with the procedure of the Global Rating Scales. Maternal behaviour during interactions was assessed and rated by two trained research psychologists. With regard to the mothers’ interaction with each twin, no differences were found between mothers’ scores in every GRS subscale, indicating that mothers did not interact differently with their twins. Comparisons between mothers of MC twins and mothers of singletons showed that the quality of maternal sensitive behaviour during the interactions were lower in mothers of twins (0.35) Mothers of twins were also more distant during interactions with their babies and more likely to experience depression symptoms than mothers of singletons (0.05). Future research should examine mother-infant relationships following twin birth with larger samples. Such research will be especially useful in evaluating the potential benefits of interventions to promote positive mother-infant interactions.

Keywords: preterm birth; monochorionic twins; parenting; mother-infant relationship (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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