Abstract
The Attitudes Toward Motherhood (AToM) Scale was developed to assess women’s beliefs about motherhood, a specific risk factor for emotional distress in perinatal populations. As the measure was initially developed and validated for use among first-time mothers, this study assessed the reliability and validity of the AToM Scale in a sample of multiparous women. Maternal attitudes were significantly associated with symptoms of depression, even after controlling for demographic, cognitive, and interpersonal risk factors. Maternal attitudes were also associated with symptoms of anxiety after controlling for demographic risk factors, but this association was not significant after accounting for cognitive and interpersonal risk factors. Compared to primiparous women from the initial validation study of the AToM Scale, multiparous women reported lower levels of social support and marital satisfaction. The relationships between cognitive and interpersonal risk factors and symptoms of depression and anxiety were comparable between multiparous and primiparous women.
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Notes
In this study, we were interested in the experiences of women who already identify as mothers when their families grow. This includes both women who have previously given birth to biological children and women who parent non-biological children (e.g., step-children, adopted children), as these women also identify as mothers. We conducted analyses of the subset of our sample who reported having only biological older children vs. women who were parents of non-biological children and we found no differences; thus, we present findings for the full sample.
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Sockol, L.E., Battle, C.L. Maternal attitudes, depression, and anxiety in pregnant and postpartum multiparous women. Arch Womens Ment Health 18, 585–593 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0511-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-015-0511-6