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Research has shown mixed results regarding the association between women's postpartum depression and mother-infant interactions, suggesting that a woman's unique experience and context may moderate how depression shapes these interactions. We examined the extent to which a woman's comorbid anxiety, her exposure to adversity, and infant characteristics moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms of women and interactions with their infants at 6 (n = 647) and 12 months (n = 346) postpartum. The methods included standardized coding of mother-infant interactions and structural regression modeling. The results at 6 months of infant age indicated that infant male sex and infant negative affectivity were risk factors for mothers' depression being associated with less optimal interactions. At 12 months of infant age, two moderators appeared to buffer the influence of depression: a woman's history of trauma and infant preterm birth (≤37 weeks gestation). The results reinforce the salience of infant characteristics in the relationship between maternal depression and mother-infant interactions. The findings also suggest that experiences of trauma may offer opportunities for psychological growth that foster constructive management of depression's potential effect on mother-infant interactions. Further research is needed to clarify the underlying processes and mechanisms that explain the influence of these moderators. The ultimate goals are to reduce the risk of suboptimal interactions and reinforce healthy dyadic relations.

Exposure to infant crying is a well-established predictor of mothers' mental health. However, this association may reflect many potential mechanisms. Capturing dynamic fluctuations in mothers' states simultaneously with caregiving experiences is necessary to identify the real-time processes influencing mental health. In this study, we leveraged ecological momentary assessments (EMAs) and infant-worn audio recorders to capture variability in mothers' mental health symptoms and their exposure to infant crying over one week in a racially and socio-economically diverse urban North-American sample (N = 53). We use multilevel modeling to characterize within- and between-person effects of crying on maternal negative affect and symptoms of depression and anxiety. Within participants, when infants cried more than average in the 10 min, 1 hr, and 8 hr prior to an EMA report, mothers' negative affect subsequently increased, controlling for mean levels of infant crying. In contrast to findings from laboratory studies, in everyday settings crying exposure did not immediately increase feelings of depression. Only when crying was above average for 8 hr prior to EMA did mothers report increases in subsequent depression symptoms, suggesting that the effects of crying on maternal mental health take "hours" to unfold in ecologically valid home settings. Between participants, mothers of infants who cried more on average did not report higher negative affect or symptoms of depression or anxiety. Overall, our findings reveal that crying exposure dynamically influences maternal negative affect and depression but not anxiety in ecologically valid real-world settings.

Theory and research suggest chronic direct and indirect exposures to racism impact health, and stress-responsive inflammation may play a role in these paths. This study examines links between forms of racism-related stress, salivary markers of inflammation during acute psychosocial stress, and perinatal mental and physical health in a racially heterogenous sample. Pregnant people (n = 108, 27% non-white) self-reported personal and vicarious exposure to racism (racial microaggressions, online racism, overt racial/ethnic discrimination) and racial collective self-esteem, as well as affective symptoms and general physical health. Five saliva samples collected before and after the Trier Social Stress Test were assayed for pro-inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein. Results revealed associations between racism-related stress and greater inflammatory reactivity/delayed recovery to acute stress, between racial collective self-esteem and lower levels of inflammation, and between profiles of inflammatory responses to stress and mental and physical symptoms. We discuss implications for understanding perinatal health disparities.

There has been extensive discussion about gender gaps in representation and career advancement in the sciences. However, psychological science itself has yet to be the focus of discussion or systematic review, despite our field's investment in questions of equity, status, well-being, gender bias, and gender disparities. In the present article, we consider 10 topics relevant for women's career advancement in psychological science. We focus on issues that have been the subject of empirical study, discuss relevant evidence within and outside of psychological science, and draw on established psychological theory and social-science research to begin to chart a path forward. We hope that better understanding of these issues within the field will shed light on areas of existing gender gaps in the discipline and areas where positive change has happened, and spark conversation within our field about how to create lasting change to mitigate remaining gender differences in psychological science.

Growing attention has been placed on examining the family environment as antecedent of attachment, including the coparenting relationship. Parents' satisfaction with the coparenting relationship may be particularly of interest when parents are at heightened risk for depression, as depression has been consistently linked to negative coparenting, poor quality of parenting, and insecure infant attachment. However, no study has examined the effects of parents' satisfaction with the coparenting relationship on attachment. The present study examined mothers' satisfaction with division of childrearing responsibilities, a component of coparenting, and its longitudinal and cross-sectional links with infant disorganized attachment, examining the quality of mothering as a mediator, in a sample of infants and mothers at elevated risk for depression (N = 234). We assessed maternal depressive symptoms at 3, 6, and 12 months of infant age, mothers' satisfaction with the division of parental responsibilities at 3 and 12 months, the quality of mothering at 6 and 12 months, and infant disorganized attachment at 12 months. Mediation analyses revealed that at 12 months, mothers who were unsatisfied with fathers' childrearing responsibilities had poorer quality of mothering, which in turn was linked to disorganized attachment in their infants. However, the longitudinal indirect association between satisfaction with childrearing responsibilities at 3 months and disorganization at 12 months mediated by maternal parenting at 6 months was not significant. Findings emphasize the importance of partner support in childrearing for mothers at risk for depression in shaping a healthy relationship between mothers and their infants, particularly as infants get older. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Insomnia during pregnancy is prevalent, yet little is known about preferred treatments for the disorder. The current study investigated both pregnant women's and their partners' preferences for treatment of maternal insomnia, comparing the two most empirically supported therapies: cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and pharmacotherapy. Method: We recruited pregnant women and their partners (N = 212) from a low-risk maternity clinic in Calgary, AB, Canada. Participants read expert validated treatment descriptions of pharmacotherapy and CBT-I and indicated their preference for treatment of maternal insomnia. Participants also completed the Insomnia Severity Index and Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Results: The majority of pregnant women (72.6%) and their partners (73.6%) selected CBT-I as their preferred choice for treatment of maternal insomnia, with a high concordance between partners. Correlates of maternal treatment choice included previous use of treatment and partner preference. Discussion: Findings suggest that pregnant women and their partners prefer CBT-I to pharmacotherapy as a treatment for maternal insomnia. Partners' preference may be an important consideration for women selecting treatment for insomnia. Keywords: preferences, insomnia, couples, pregnancy, treatment Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/fsh0000391 .supp, Insomnia symptoms and poor sleep quality are common among pregnant women (Mindell, Cook, & Nikolovski, 2015; Sedov, Cameron, Madigan, & Tomfohr-Madsen, 2018). Trajectory analyses show that the majority of pregnant [...]

Children who expect they can bring about good outcomes and avoid bad outcomes tend to experience more personal successes. Little is known about factors that contribute to these "control expectancies". The purpose of the present study was to determine whether children's internal control expectancies occur in the context of parents' internal control expectancies, low family strain, and high family cohesiveness and whether these factors are more strongly related to daughters' than sons' control expectancies. A community sample of 85 children aged 9-11 years and their parents (85 mothers; 63 fathers) completed rating scales. Fathers' more internal control expectancies and mothers' reports of fewer family strains were associated with daughters' but not sons' greater internal control expectancies, and greater family cohesiveness was related to both daughters' and sons' internal control orientations. These findings suggest that family factors may contribute to children's, particularly daughters', development of internal control expectancies.

The inadequate parenting associated with mothers' depression may be related to mothers' problems in interpreting infants' emotional expressions. The relations between depressed and well mothers' accuracy at interpreting babies' facial expressions and the quality of the mothers' interactions with their infants were examined. In partial support of our hypotheses, depressed mothers' level of depressive symptoms was associated with less accuracy, especially regarding positive emotions. Contrary to expectations, depressed mothers did not differ from well mothers in terms of their emotion accuracy. Furthermore, depressed mothers' accuracy at interpreting infants' emotions was not significantly related to the quality of their interaction with their infants; in contrast, well mothers' accuracy for infants' negative emotions was associated with better interaction quality. These findings provide new information about depressed mothers' emotional interpretations and their parenting. The different pattern of findings for depressed and well mothers suggests that other mediating factors are important, which are discussed. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Explored the role of parent and child gender in parent-child conversations about past emotional experiences. Observations of conversations between parents and children approximately 3.5 years old indicated that females conversed more overall, specifically about emotions, and used more emotional words. Both mothers and fathers used more emotional utterances when discussing sad events with daughters than with sons. (SM)

This article includes Author Insights, a video abstract available at: Perinatal depression in transgender and gender expansive individuals (youtube.com). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]