TY - JOUR
T1 - Pre-conception self-harm, maternal mental health and mother-infant bonding problems
T2 - A 20-year prospective cohort study
AU - Borschmann, Rohan
AU - Molyneaux, Emma
AU - Spry, Elizabeth
AU - Moran, Paul
AU - Howard, Louise M.
AU - Macdonald, Jacqui A.
AU - Brown, Stephanie J.
AU - Moreno-Betancur, Margarita
AU - Olsson, Craig A.
AU - Patton, George C.
N1 - Funding Information:
NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (APP1104644 to RB); the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth); Australian Rotary Health; Colonial Foundation; Perpetual Trustees; Financial Markets Foundation for Children (Australia); Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation; Murdoch Children’s Research Institute; Australian Postgraduate Association to ES and Australian Research Council Award (DP130101459 to CO). The Murdoch Children’s Research Institute is supported by the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Program. PM is supported by NIHR Biomedical Research Centre at the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Bristol. LMH and EM are funded through a National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Professorship in maternal mental health to LMH (NIHR-RP-R3-12-S011). LMH is also affiliated with the NIHR Mental Health Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. SB is supported by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (APP1103976). We thank the families who participated in VAHCS and VIHCS, the study research team involved in data collection and management, and Prof. Anthony Mann and Prof. Sir Michael Rutter for providing valuable advice on study design. This study represents independent research part funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, UK. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NHS, the National Institute for Health Research or the Department of Health.
Funding Information:
(VAHCS) and the Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (VIHCS) have both been supported by a series of project grants from Australia’s National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC; APP1008273, APP1063091, APP437015 and APP1019887 to GP) and an
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018.
PY - 2019/12/1
Y1 - 2019/12/1
N2 - Background Self-harm in young people is associated with later problems in social and emotional development. However, it is unknown whether self-harm in young women continues to be a marker of vulnerability on becoming a parent. This study prospectively describes the associations between pre-conception self-harm, maternal depressive symptoms and mother-infant bonding problems.Methods The Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (VIHCS) is a follow-up to the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) in Australia. Socio-demographic and health variables were assessed at 10 time-points (waves) from ages 14 to 35, including self-reported self-harm at waves 3-9. VIHCS enrolment began in 2006 (when participants were aged 28-29 years), by contacting VAHCS women every 6 months to identify pregnancies over a 7-year period. Perinatal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during the third trimester, and 2 and 12 months postpartum. Mother-infant bonding problems were assessed with the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire at 2 and 12 months postpartum.Results Five hundred sixty-four pregnancies from 384 women were included. One in 10 women (9.7%) reported pre-conception self-harm. Women who reported self-harming in young adulthood (ages 20-29) reported higher levels of perinatal depressive symptoms and mother-infant bonding problems at all perinatal time points [perinatal depressive symptoms adjusted β = 5.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.42-7.39; mother-infant bonding problems adjusted β = 7.51, 95% CI 3.09-11.92]. There was no evidence that self-harm in adolescence (ages 15-17) was associated with either perinatal outcome.Conclusions Self-harm during young adulthood may be an indicator of future vulnerability to perinatal mental health and mother-infant bonding problems.
AB - Background Self-harm in young people is associated with later problems in social and emotional development. However, it is unknown whether self-harm in young women continues to be a marker of vulnerability on becoming a parent. This study prospectively describes the associations between pre-conception self-harm, maternal depressive symptoms and mother-infant bonding problems.Methods The Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (VIHCS) is a follow-up to the Victorian Adolescent Health Cohort Study (VAHCS) in Australia. Socio-demographic and health variables were assessed at 10 time-points (waves) from ages 14 to 35, including self-reported self-harm at waves 3-9. VIHCS enrolment began in 2006 (when participants were aged 28-29 years), by contacting VAHCS women every 6 months to identify pregnancies over a 7-year period. Perinatal depressive symptoms were assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale during the third trimester, and 2 and 12 months postpartum. Mother-infant bonding problems were assessed with the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire at 2 and 12 months postpartum.Results Five hundred sixty-four pregnancies from 384 women were included. One in 10 women (9.7%) reported pre-conception self-harm. Women who reported self-harming in young adulthood (ages 20-29) reported higher levels of perinatal depressive symptoms and mother-infant bonding problems at all perinatal time points [perinatal depressive symptoms adjusted β = 5.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.42-7.39; mother-infant bonding problems adjusted β = 7.51, 95% CI 3.09-11.92]. There was no evidence that self-harm in adolescence (ages 15-17) was associated with either perinatal outcome.Conclusions Self-harm during young adulthood may be an indicator of future vulnerability to perinatal mental health and mother-infant bonding problems.
KW - Cohort study
KW - epidemiology
KW - mother-infant bonding
KW - perinatal mental health
KW - self-mutilation.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85075805461&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/S0033291718003689
DO - 10.1017/S0033291718003689
M3 - Article
C2 - 30560741
AN - SCOPUS:85075805461
SN - 0033-2917
VL - 49
SP - 2727
EP - 2735
JO - Psychological Medicine
JF - Psychological Medicine
IS - 16
ER -