The effect of maternal childhood maltreatment on postpartum mother–child bonding and maternal hair glucocorticoids

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

Background: Maternal experiences of childhood maltreatment (CM) constitute a risk factor for impairments in the mother–child relationship. One mechanism underlying this intergenerational transmission may be maternal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis dysregulation. Yet, few studies have examined different maltreatment subtypes, including emotional neglect, considered concurrent depressive symptoms, and used long-term integrated glucocorticoid measures. Objective: This study aimed to investigate associations between maternal CM history, postpartum glucocorticoids in hair, and mother–child bonding. In exploratory analyses, we tested whether specific subtypes of CM had differential implications for glucocorticoid secretion and bonding. Methods: During pregnancy, N =269 mothers from the prospective cohort study DREAMHAIR provided retrospective information on CM and current information regarding psychological and hair-related variables. Hair samples were collected 8 weeks after delivery for quantification of maternal long-term hair cortisol and cortisone concentrations in 2-cm scalp-near hair samples. Mother–child bonding was measured 8 weeks and 14 months after birth using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire. Results: While bivariate correlations revealed significant associations of CM with bonding and hair cortisol, regression findings showed CM was associated with impaired bonding 8 weeks (overall CM trend-level; emotional neglect p =.038) and 14 months (emotional neglect trend level p =.041) after birth, however not after controlling for depressive symptoms at the time point of the outcome. In regression analyses, CM was not associated with maternal hair glucocorticoids 8 weeks postpartum. Maternal hair glucocorticoid concentrations were not related to mother–child bonding and did not mediate associations between CM and mother–child bonding. Conclusion: Data tentatively suggest that mothers with CM experiences, in particular emotional neglect, may be at risk for suboptimal bonding to their child, however current depressive symptoms seem to be more important. Our data provide no evidence for a crucial role of glucocorticoid secretion, yet aetiological processes of long-term glucocorticoid secretion and bonding are complex and more severely affected samples should be examined.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2317674
Number of pages16
Journal European journal of psychotraumatology : official organ of the European Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ESTSS)
Volume15
Issue number1
Publication statusPublished - 2 Feb 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0001-6790-8679/work/155838287
ORCID /0000-0002-1938-3414/work/155840455
ORCID /0000-0002-1171-7133/work/155840835
ORCID /0000-0002-7472-674X/work/155840947
WOS 001178091200001

Keywords

Sustainable Development Goals

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Keywords

  • Child maltreatment, childhood trauma, DREAM study, emotional neglect, hair cortisol, mother–child bonding

Library keywords