2002 International International Biennial Scientific Meeting

PERFECTIONISM, OLDER FIRST TIME MOTHERS AND THEIR INFANTS

Anne Sved-Williams

Helen Mayo House, Glenside Campus, Eastwood, South Australia

svedwill@hcn.net.au

Objective: To determine relationships between perfectionism identified antenatally, age of first-time parenting, attachment to infant and mood postnatally

Method: Women in third trimester of pregnancy (identified through antenatal clinics and private obstetricians consulting rooms) were assessed antenatally with the following measures: Leyton Obsessional Inventory, demographic data, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and Foetal-Maternal Attachment Scale. They consented to mail back at 6 weeks and 6 months postnatally a set of data compromising: EPDS, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Infant-Maternal Attachment Scale. The results were then analysed.

Results: The return rate of data was low. There was no association between perfectionism identified antenatally and increasing age of first-time parenting. There were associations found between perfectionism antenatally, and mood changes both antenatally and postnatally.

Conclusions: Perfectionism has well-known associations with mood and anxiety levels, and this study has confirmed those associations for women antenatally and postnatally, although no associations with age of first-time parenting were found. Women with higher obsessionality scores spent more time antenatally in attachment mode, which may be considered beneficial for their relationship with their infants, although consequences of such antenatal attachment are unclear.