TY - JOUR
T1 - Parental psychological distress and confidence after an infant's birth
T2 - the role of attachment representations in parents of infants with congenital anomalies and parents of healthy infants
AU - Fonseca, Ana
AU - Nazaré, Bárbara
AU - Canavarro, Maria Cristina
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments This study is part of the ‘‘Reproductive decisions and transition to parenthood after a pre-or postnatal diagnosis of congenital anomaly’’ research project, integrated in the Relationships, Development and Health Research Group of the R&D Unit Institute of Cognitive Psychology, Vocational and Social Development of the University of Coimbra (PEst-OE/PSI/UI0192/2011). Ana Fonseca and Bárbara Nazaré are supported by PhD Scholarships from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (SFRH/BD/ 47053/2008, SFRH/BD/43204/2008, respectively). The authors wish to thank the services that enabled the sample collection: Pediatric Cardiology Service of the Pediatric Hospital—Centro Hospitalar de Coimbra (parents of babies with congenital heart disease) and the Obstetrics and Neonatology Departments—Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra (the remaining participants from the clinical and comparison groups).
Copyright:
Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - The present study aimed to examine parental psychological distress and confidence after an infant's birth, when parenting an infant with a diagnosis of a congenital anomaly, and to understand the role of attachment representations on parental adjustment. Parents of infants with a congenital anomaly (44 couples) and parents of healthy infants (46 couples) completed measures of adult attachment representations and of psychological distress and parental confidence (one month after the infant's birth). Results showed no group differences in psychological distress. Mothers in the clinical group presented lower confidence than mothers in the comparison group, while for fathers the inverse pattern was found, showing their involvement in the caretaking of the infant. Insecure attachment representations predicted parental psychological distress, and a moderator role of group was found only for fathers. These results highlight the role of secure attachment representations as an individual resource in stress-inducing situations.
AB - The present study aimed to examine parental psychological distress and confidence after an infant's birth, when parenting an infant with a diagnosis of a congenital anomaly, and to understand the role of attachment representations on parental adjustment. Parents of infants with a congenital anomaly (44 couples) and parents of healthy infants (46 couples) completed measures of adult attachment representations and of psychological distress and parental confidence (one month after the infant's birth). Results showed no group differences in psychological distress. Mothers in the clinical group presented lower confidence than mothers in the comparison group, while for fathers the inverse pattern was found, showing their involvement in the caretaking of the infant. Insecure attachment representations predicted parental psychological distress, and a moderator role of group was found only for fathers. These results highlight the role of secure attachment representations as an individual resource in stress-inducing situations.
KW - Attachment representations
KW - Parental confidence
KW - Parents of infants with a congenital anomaly
KW - Psychological distress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84879230847&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10880-012-9329-9
DO - 10.1007/s10880-012-9329-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 23053831
AN - SCOPUS:84879230847
SN - 1068-9583
VL - 20
SP - 143
EP - 155
JO - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
JF - Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings
IS - 2
ER -