Dynamics of maternal attitudes from pregnancy to infancy

Maternal attitude to a child creates a unique environment for the development of his mental health and personality; early mother — child relationships are significant from pregnancy to early age. The article studies characteristics, dynamics, and predictors of maternal attitude from pregnancy to the infancy and time points: T1 — during pregnancy, 98 women, 30.6 ± 4.52 years old, gestation period 32.4 ± 7.03 weeks; T2 — same 98 women at 4th–8th months of their child. Methods: Pregnant Women Attitude Test (2015); Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS) (1993, adopted by S. S. Savenysheva, V. O. Anikina, M. E. Bloch in 2022); drawing test “Me and my child” (2024), The Maternal Attitude Test (modified from Pregnant Women Attitude Test, authorized by M. E. Bloch, S. S. Savenysheva, V. O. Anikina, I. V. Grandilevskaya, adopted by S. S. Savenysheva et al., 2022), Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS) (adopted by S. S. Savenysheva et al., 2022). The results demonstrated both at pregnancy and after the child’s birth a predominantly optimal maternal attitude, high and medium levels of prenatal and postnatal mother — child relations. The dynamics showed an increase in the indicators of the maternal attitude from pre- to postnatal period, an increase in the euphoric type of maternal attitude and a decrease in the anxious and optimal type. Predictors of maternal attitude towards an infant are the same types of psychological component of the gestational dominant and the components of the prenatal attitude towards the child. Conclusion: from pregnancy to infancy maternal attitude improves. Maternal attitude towards a child prenatally is a significant predictor of the attitude towards him postnatally.

Abdulaeva, A. M., Korgozha, M. A. The maternal position of women raising single or twin infants: A review of Russian and foreign studies. Psikhologiya cheloveka v obrazovanii, 2024. vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 18–32. https://www.doi.org/10.33910/2686- 9527-2024-6-1-18-32 (In Russian).

Basina RM, Palaus EI, Mahauri KM, Fesenko NK, Abzalieva AD, Bogan NV, Grechanyi SV, Khavkin AI. Interrelations between baby eating behaviours and the development of the mother–infant relationships and maternal anxiety and depression levels. Vopr det dietol. 2020. 18(3):99-110. DOI: 10.20953/1727-5784-2020-3-99-110 (In Russian).

Blokh, M.E., Grandilevskaya, I.V., Savenysheva, S.S., Anikina, V.O. Suicidal risks of women during pregnancy and after childbirth. Konsultativnaya psikhologiya i psikhoterapiya. 2023. 31(2), 84–98. https://doi.org/10.17759/cpp.2023310204

Blokh, M.E. The phenomenon of motherhood in the context of psychological theories and research. Zhenskoye psikhicheskoye zdorovye: ot isterii k genderno-sensitivnomu podkhodu: Ed: N. G. Neznanova – 2nd ed. Federalnoye gosudarstvennoye byudzhetnoye uchrezhdeniye "Natsionalnyy meditsinskiy issledovatelskiy tsentr psikhiatrii i nevrologii imeni V.M. Bekhtereva" Ministerstva zdravookhraneniya Rossiyskoy Federatsii. Sankt-Peterburg: 2020. - pp. 38-51. (In Russian).

Bokhan T.G., Silaeva A.V. Formation of attachment to the child during pregnancy and after childbirth in women participating in the IVF program. Uchenyye zapiski universiteta imeni P.F. Lesgafta. 2021. No. 6 (196). P. 401-408. (In Russian).

Brish K. Bindung psychotherapy: infancy and early age / Karl Brish. - M. Terevinf, 2019. - 204 p. (In Russian).

Brutman V. I., Filippova G. G., Khamitova I. Y. Dynamics of women psychological status during pregnancy and after the delivery. Issues of Psychology. 2002. No 1. P. 59–68.

Znamenskaya I. I., Yaroslavtseva T. G. Maternal attachment to the fetus: factors of formation and practical application of the construct. Psikhologicheskiy zhurnal, 2022. Vol. 43. No. 2. pp. 72–83. (In Russian).

Maatz Hans-Joachim Lilith complex: The dark side of motherhood / Translated from German. – Moscow: Cogito-Center, 2017. 196 p. (In Russian).

Filippova, G. G. Psychology of Motherhood: a textbook for universities / G. G. Filippova. - 2nd ed., Moscow: Yurait Publishing House, 2024. - 212 p. (In Russian).

Branjerdporn G, Meredith P, Wilson T, Strong J. Infant Developmental Outcomes: Influence of Prenatal Maternal-Fetal Attachment, Adult Attachment, Maternal Well- Being, and Perinatal Loss. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Feb 20;19(4):2433. Doi: 10.3390/ijerph19042433.

Carone N, Tracchegiani J and Lingiardi V. Maternal attachment state of mind and defensive functioning in pregnancy: predicting mother–infant relationship at 6 months through the PDM-2 Infancy and Early Childhood section. Front. Psychol. 2025.16:1568620. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1568620

Çınar, N., Yalnızoğlu Çaka, S., Topal, S., & Uslu Yuvac, H.. Relationship between prenatal and maternal attachment: a longitudinal study from Turkey. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 2021. 42(2), 220–227. https://doi.org/10.1080/01443615.2021.1904223

Hildingsson, I., Rubertsson, C. Postpartum bonding and association with depressive symptoms and prenatal attachment in women with fear of birth. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 22, 66. 2022. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-021-04367-3

Lucassen N., Tharner, A., van ijzendoorn M.., et al. The Association Between Paternal Sensitivity and Infant-Father Attachment Security: A Meta-Analysis of Three Decades of Research. Journal of Family Psychology. 2011. 25(6):986-92 DOI: 10.1037/a0025855

Medina, N. Y., Edwards, R. C., Zhang, Y., & Hans, S. L. A longitudinal investigation of young mothers’ prenatal attachment, depressive symptoms, and early parenting behaviour. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology. 2021. 40(2), 196–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/02646838.2021.1886257

Medina, N. Y., Edwards, R. C., Hans, S. L. Young mothers' prenatal attachment and later attachment-related representations of their young children. Infant Mental Health Journal, 2025. 46(1). DOI: 10.1002/imhj.22162

Müller M.E. Prenatal and postnatal attachment: A modest correlation. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing. 1996. Vol. 25. № 2. P. 161–166. doi: 10.1111/j.1552-6909.1996.tb02420.x.

Osofsky JD, Osofsky HJ, Frazer AL, Fields-Olivieri MA, Many M, Selby M, Holman S, Conrad E. The importance of adverse childhood experiences during the perinatal period. Am Psychol. 2021. Feb-Mar;76(2):350-363. Doi: 10.1037/amp0000770. PMID: 33734800.

Pazzagli, C., Buratta, L., Cenci, G., Coletti, E., Giuliani, M. L., & Mazzeschi, C. Does Parental Reflective Functioning Mediate the Associations between the Maternal Antenatal and Postnatal Bond with the Child in a Community Sample? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2022. 19(12), 6957. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19126957

Planalp E. M., O’Neill M., Braungart-Rieker J. M. Parent mind-mindedness, sensitivity, and infant affect: Implications for attachment with mothers and fathers. Infant Behavior and Development. 2019. Т. 57. – С. 101-330.

Trombetta T., et al. Prenatall attachment and Parent-to-Infant Attachment^ a systematic Review/ Fronters in Psychology, 2021, 12, 620942. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.620942