The Psychological Impact of the Coronavirus Outbreak on Pregnancy and Parent-Infant Prenatal Bonding

• In Event: Poster Session 07
  In Poster Session: PS 07 Topic - Solicited Content: COVID-19 Related

Abstract

Pregnancy is an important step for mothers-to-be in creating representations of themselves as a “mother”, with the developing attachment relationship to the unborn child considered as a milestone in the future parent’s developmental trajectory (Kunkel & Doan, 2003; Van den Bergh & Simons, 2009). The announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic during pregnancy as well as all the national health measures installed can hence have consequences on these representations and on prenatal bonding. Studies converge in finding a negative correlation between prenatal maternal mental health (depression, anxiety or stress) and a mother’s ability to imagine and develop a healthy positive relationship with her child pre- and post-partum (Bergman et al., 2008; Dubber et al., 2015; Glover & Capron, 2017; Hopkins et al., 2018; Ossa, Bustos & Fernandez, 2012; Rubertsson et al., 2015).
This study aimed to assess the impact of the COVID-19 stress and anxiety on prenatal (during the second trimester of pregnancy; T1) and postnatal (at 3 months of age; T2) bonding in order to improve patient care from a medical and psychological point of view, promoting the creation of healthy mother-child bonding. This talk will focus on results from the analysis of prenatal data (T1), N = 95 mothers (mean age M = 31.41; SD = 4.39), based on questionnaires including the Prenatal Attachment Inventory (PAI), the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Impact of Event Scale Revised (IES-R) focusing on the impact of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown. We added a question enquiring whether mothers would have chosen a different rating on any PAI item if these were asked before the dawn of the pandemic, leading to the computation of an alternative PAI total score.
Results suggest that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly affected prenatal bonding as mothers scored significantly differently on the PAI total score and the alternative PAI total score. There were significant correlations between PAI total score and age, anxiety (DASS) and stress (IES-R). When entered in one model looking for predictors of PAI total score, age and coronavirus stress were the only variables found to significantly predict prenatal bonding, with younger mothers scoring higher on the PAI and higher perceived stress predicting higher PAI scores. In order to further explore the unexpected finding relating to the positive correlation between stress and bonding, we looked for predictors of the difference between PAI total score and the alternative total score. Results revealed that IES-R scores were the only significant predictor, with higher stress scores predicting a smaller difference in bonding scores. We argue for a cultural component in explaining these results, hypothesizing that perceived stress could trigger defensive strategies, leading to more investment in the attachment relationship, potentially playing the role of a protective factor. We also hope to evaluate the predictors of postnatal bonding and perceived child temperament at 3 months of age in variables such as prenatal bonding, mental health and perceived stress, shedding more light with regards to this hypothesis. Analyses should be completed by the time of the biennial SRCD meeting.

Authors

• Pia Tohme, Lebanese American University
  Presenting Author

• Gihad Chalouhi, American University of Beirut Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Nouran Hamed, American University of Beirut Medical Center
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elma Nassar, Lebanese American University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Rudy Abi-Habib, Lebanese American University
  Non-Presenting Author