Negative Self-Perceptions of Parenting Predict Postpartum Depression: A Longitudinal Analysis of Informant Discrepancies

• In Event: Novel Methodological Approaches for Advancing Study of the Intergenerational Transmission of Depression

Abstract

Parenting research has long-regarded perceived parenting competence as a risk factor for less optimal mother and child outcomes (Jones & Prinz, 2005), including postpartum depression (PPD). Yet self-report measures of parenting competence do not capture the degree to which these perceptions are accurate. Established literatures highlight the role of informant discrepancies in predicting psychopathology (De Los Reyes & Kazdin, 2005) and the negative cognitive biases characteristic of depression (LeMoult & Gotlib, 2019). We propose that the discrepancy between self- and observer-rated parenting competence may play a unique role in PPD, a premise which, to our knowledge, has not been evaluated. Specifically, negative distortions about one’s own parenting may increase risk for PPD symptoms, and vice versa. Using methodologies applied to index informant discrepancies in other domains (Laird & De Los Reyes, 2013), this study examined whether discrepancies in self- versus observer-rated parenting relate to PPD symptoms over the first two postpartum years. First, we examined whether between-individual differences in discrepancy (DISCREP) explain unique variance in subsequent PPD symptoms, above self- and observer-ratings and earlier PPD. We hypothesized that negative DISCREP (self-report lower than observer-rated) would be associated with higher levels of later PPD symptoms. Next, we assessed within-individual, reciprocal relations among these factors, specifically hypothesizing that negative DISCREP is both an antecedent and consequence of elevated PPD symptoms. Aims were addressed in a sample of 168 women from a prospective, longitudinal study with assessments at 6, 12, and 24 months postpartum. Perceived parenting competence was measured with the competence subscale of the Parenting Stress Index (Abidin, 1983). Maternal sensitivity was coded by trained raters with a protocol from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (NICHD ECCRN, 1999). Self-reports and observer-ratings were standardized for analyses. Women reported on their PPD symptoms with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (Cox et al., 1987). In a polynomial regression, 6-month self- and observer-rated parenting competence interacted to explain unique variance in PPD symptoms at 12 and 24 months; mothers with negative DISCREP reported the highest symptoms. In an auto-regressive cross-lagged panel model with structured residuals (Curran et al., 2014), within-individual deviations in DISCREP towards more negative (self- lower than observer-rating) related to subsequent increases in PPD symptoms, adjusting for earlier PPD symptoms; PPD to DISCREP lagged paths were not statistically significant. Results persisted when considering relevant sociodemographic factors (income, cohabitation with baby’s father, gestational age at birth). Between-individual analyses indicated that negative DISCREP in parenting competence represents a risk factor for PPD. This conclusion was further supported by within-individual analyses. Findings are interpreted to suggest that mothers’ perceptions of competence in their new parenting role and mother-infant relationship, if inaccurate and negative, increase their risk for developing PPD symptoms. This has implications for the treatment of perinatal depression, where this subgroup of women would likely benefit more from cognitive reframing than from behavioral interventions targeting parenting skills.

Authors

• Mariann Howland, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
  Presenting Author

• Elysia Poggi Davis, University of Denver

• Curt Sandman, University of California, Irvine

• Laura Glynn, Chapman University