Poster #51 - Impact of partner stress on the birthing experience and infant negative affect

• In Event: Poster Session 17

Abstract

Approximately 6.8–44% of birthing parents report negative childbirth experiences, and 20–48% describe childbirth as traumatic (Hosseini Tabaghdehi et al., 2019; 2020). However, research on factors that influence subjective childbirth experiences is limited (McKelvin et al., 2021). One factor warranting further exploration is life stress during pregnancy, which has been associated with not only childbirth but infant developmental outcomes, such as behavioral problems during infancy through early adolescence (Glover, 2014; Latendresse, 2009; Robinson et al., 2011; Rondó et al., 2003). One infant outcome of interest is negative affect, which has implications for later behavioral problems (Putnam & Stifter, 2005).
However, it is unclear if some forms of life stress are more impactful than others. This project aims to examine how various domains of life stress (i.e., partner, finance, and health stress) during pregnancy may be associated with subjective childbirth-related stress and infant negative affect. By examining unique domains of chronic life stress, we may begin to elucidate types of stress with higher impact and subsequently improve how we target stress reduction among birthing parents and their infants.
Birthing parents (N = 99) completed the UCLA Life Stress Interview (LSI; Hammen et al., 1987) during their third trimester of pregnancy. The LSI is a semi-structured interview administered and systematically scored by trained study staff that obtains an objective score of birthing parent stress. We included the following scores in study analyses: partner, health, and financial stress. Then, within 48 hours after birth, participants completed the Childbirth Experiences Questionnaire (Horton et al., 2017) which assesses stress, fear, and partner support during childbirth. Lastly, at 7 months postpartum, they completed the Infant Behavior Questionnaire (Putnam et al., 2014), a parent-report measure of infant temperament. For this study, we included the negative affect factor, which includes subscales such as sadness, distress to limitations, and fear.
We ran linear regression models to test how domains of stress were related to childbirth experiences and infant negative affect at 7 months postpartum. Results indicated that more partner stress during pregnancy was associated with more childbirth-related stress (B = .32, p = .04). In addition, more partner-related stress during pregnancy predicted higher levels of infant negative affect at 7 months postpartum (B = .51, p = .01). Birthing parents’ health- and financial-related stress during pregnancy did not significantly predict subjective childbirth experiences or 7-month infant negative affect (p > .05).
We found that more partner stress during pregnancy predicted more stressful childbirth experience and higher infant negative affect at 7 months postpartum. Results from this project reveal that partner stress is an important and modifiable intervention target that could potentially reduce risk for stressful childbirth experiences and infant negative affect. In this presentation, we will discuss potential mechanisms underlying these associations as well as clinical and intergenerational implications for birthing parents and infants.

Authors

• Nicolette Cristina Molina, University of Utah
  Presenting Author

• Parisa R. Kaliush, University of Utah

• Anna M Zhou, University of Utah

• Ashley Pappal, University of Utah

• Dylan Neff, University of Utah

• Liz Conradt, Duke University

• Sheila E Crowell, University of Utah