Qualitative Research Interviewing

Objective To assess whether the parents of babies born preterm (PT; Design and participants Data were drawn from the UK Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative prospective cohort of babies born in 2000–2002. 12 100 families with complete data available for both parents at recruitment (9 months postpartum) are included. Exposure and outcome Mothers report of gestational age at birth (in weeks) was grouped into: very PT ( Results Overall, 7% of families reported a PT birth; 12.1% of mothers and 8.9% of fathers showed signs of PD at 9 months postpartum. The mothers of very PT infants had an increased risk of PD, compared with the mothers of full-term babies (unadjusted OR 2.10 (1.30 to 3.39; adjusted OR 1.66 (1.02 to 2.69)). Mothers of moderate or late PT babies had no apparent increased risk of PD. However, mothers of early term babies also showed a small excess risk of PD (adjusted OR 1.16 (0.99 to 1.36)). Unadjusted analysis suggested a doubling in the risk of PD in fathers of very and moderately PT babies, compared with fathers of full-term babies, which remains statistically significant after adjustment in the moderately PT group (adjusted OR1.98 (1.20 to 3.29)). Conclusions The parents of very PT children are at an increased risk of PD at 9 months postpartum, and mothers of children born at early term also see an elevated risk compared with mothers of full-term babies.

https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjopen/5/12/e007942.full.pdf

Risk of psychological distress in parents of preterm children in the first year: evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

Depression is widely prevalent among women in the child-bearing age, especially during the antenatal and postnatal period. Globally, post-partum depression has been reported in almost 10% to 20% of mothers, and it can start from the moment of birth, or may result from depression evolving continuously since pregnancy. The presence of depression among women has gained a lot of attention not only because of the rising incidence or worldwide distribution, but also because of the serious negative impact on personal, family and child developmental outcomes. Realizing the importance of maternal depression on different aspects-personal, child, and familial life, there is a crucial need to design a comprehensive public health policy (including a mental health strategy), to ensure that universal psychosocial assessment in perinatal women is undertaken within the primary health care system. To conclude, depression during pregnancy and in the postnatal period is a serious public health issue, which essentially requires continuous health sector support to eventually benefit not only the woman, but also the family, the community, and health care professionals.

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Antenatal and postnatal depression: A public health perspective.

In this study we tested whether the relation between fathers’ and mothers’ psychopathology symptoms and child social-emotional development was mediated by parents’ use of emotion talk about negative emotions in a sample of 241 two-parent families. Parents’ internalizing and externalizing problems were measured with the Adult Self Report and parental emotion talk was observed while they discussed a picture book with their children (child age: 3 years). Children’s parent-reported internalizing and externalizing problems and observed prosocial behaviors were assessed at the age of 3 years and again 12 months later. We found that mothers’ use of emotion talk partially mediated the positive association between fathers’ internalizing problems and child internalizing problems. Fathers’ internalizing problems predicted more elaborative mother–child discussions about negative emotions, which in turn predicted more internalizing problems in children a year later. Mothers’ externalizing problems directly predicted more internalizing and externalizing problems in children. These findings emphasize the importance of examining the consequences of parental psychological difficulties for child development from a family-wide perspective.

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Associations Between Fathers' and Mothers' Psychopathology Symptoms, Parental Emotion Socialization, and Preschoolers' Social-Emotional Development.

Previous research has demonstrated that making music can enhance positive emotions as well as support positive psychological functioning. However, studies tend to be limited by lack of comparison with other psychosocial interventions. This study builds on a three-arm randomised controlled trial (RCT) that demonstrated that group singing for mothers and babies, but not group creative play, can lead to faster recovery from moderate-severe symptoms of postnatal depression than usual care. The aim was to elucidate the mechanisms of the group singing intervention in order to account for its recovery properties. Qualitative research was conducted with 54 mothers who had experienced symptoms of postnatal depression. Mothers completed a 10-week programme of either group singing or group creative play as part of the wider RCT study. Data were collected via a series of 10 semi-structured focus groups conducted at the end of each 10-week programme. These were designed to elicit subjective and constructed experiences of the singing and play interventions and were analysed inductively for emergent themes. Five distinctive features of the group singing emerged: (i) providing an authentic, social and multicultural creative experience, (ii) ability to calm babies; (iii) providing immersive ‘me time’ for mothers; (iv) facilitating a sense of achievement and identity; (v) enhancing mother-infant bond. Community group singing interventions may reduce symptoms of postnatal depression through facilitating a functional emotional response rooted in the needs of new motherhood. These features are of relevance to others seeking to implement creative interventions for maternal mental health. NCT02526407
 . Registered 18 August 2015.

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How group singing facilitates recovery from the symptoms of postnatal depression: a comparative qualitative study.

Objectives: Postnatal depression affects approximately 15% of women in Western countries. There are conflicting findings about the effects on fathers as well as the extent to which fathers buffer against the negative effects of depression on children. This study sought to understand the ways in which maternal postnatal depression affects men and their ways of fathering.Design: Narrative interviews were conducted with 14 British fathers (mean age = 33.9 years) whose (ex)partners had experienced at least one episode of postnatal depression. Interviews explored how their partner’s depression affected them, the partner relationship, their children and their ways of fathering. Data were analysed with interpretative phenomenological analysis.Results and Conclusions: Men felt that their partner’s depression led to significant physical and/or psychological maternal absence as well as a fracturing of the family unit, which had been an important ideological foundation for men’s fathering. Unequal divisions of labou...

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Leah Beestin

Papers

The impact of maternal postnatal depression on men and their ways of fathering: an interpretative phenomenological analysis