Maternal postnatal bonding disorder and emotional/behavioral problems in preschool children: The Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study

• DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.044
• Publication Date: 2023-01-13T08:22:20Z
• Authors: Keiko Murakami; Mami Ishikuro; Taku Obara; Aoi Noda; Fumihiko Ueno; Tomomi Onuma; Fumiko Matsuzaki; Ippei Takahashi; Saya Kikuchi; Natsuko Kobayashi; Hirotaka Hamada; Noriyuki Iwama; Hirohito Metoki; Masahiro Kikuya; Masatoshi Saito; Junichi Sugawara; Hiroaki Tomita; Nobuo Yaegashi; Shinichi Kuriyama
• Keywords: Child Behavior Checklist; Conduct disorder

Although there is evidence that maternal perinatal mental disorders are associated with emotional/behavioral problems in children, the long-term impacts of postnatal bonding disorder remain unclear. We aimed to examine the associations between maternal postnatal bonding disorder and emotional/behavioral problems in preschool children.We analyzed data from 7220 mother-child pairs who participated in the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Maternal bonding disorder was defined as Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale score ≥5 at 1 month after delivery. The Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½-5 was used to assess emotional/behavioral problems, and its subscales were used to assess internalizing and externalizing problems in children at 4 years of age. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the associations of postnatal bonding disorder with emotional/behavioral, internalizing, and externalizing problems after adjustment for age, education, income, parity, prenatal psychological distress, postnatal depressive symptoms, child's sex, preterm birth, and birth defects.The prevalence of postnatal bonding disorder was 14.8 %. Postnatal bonding disorder was associated with an increased risk of emotional/behavioral problems in children: the odds ratio (OR) was 2.06 (95 % confidence interval [CI], 1.72-2.46). Postnatal bonding disorder was also associated with increased risks of internalizing problems and externalizing problems in children: the ORs were 1.69 (95 % CI, 1.42-2.02) and 1.90 (95 % CI, 1.59-2.26), respectively.Bonding and problems were self-reported.Bonding disorder at 1 month after delivery was associated with an increased risk of emotional/behavioral problems in children at 4 years of age.