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. 2021 Jun 1;17(6):1279-1285.
doi: 10.5664/jcsm.9188.

Perception of infant sleep problems: the role of negative affectivity and maternal depression

Rebecca Burdayron  1   2 , Bryan P Butler  1   2 , Marie-Julie Béliveau  2   3 , Karine Dubois-Comtois  2   4 , Marie-Hélène Pennestri  1   2
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Perception of infant sleep problems: the role of negative affectivity and maternal depression

Rebecca Burdayron et al. J Clin Sleep Med. .

Abstract

Study objectives: To investigate whether the interaction between infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms is associated with the degree to which mothers perceive infant sleep to be problematic at 6 months postpartum, independent of infant sleep and sociodemographic factors.

Methods: Infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms were assessed in a sample of 59 mother-infant dyads at 6 months postpartum using standardized measures. Mothers reported the degree to which they perceived their infant's sleep to be problematic via an item composite of the Sleep Practices Questionnaire. Nocturnal infant sleep variables (duration, number of awakenings) were retrieved from a 2-week infant sleep diary (maternal report).

Results: There was a significant interaction between infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms in predicting mothers' perceived extent of infant sleep problems. Simple slope analysis showed that high levels of depression were related to higher maternal perception of infant sleep problem scores only among mothers of infants with high levels of negative affectivity. Moreover, infant negative affectivity and maternal depressive symptoms positively predicted perception scores after adjustment for infant sleep, maternal age, and parity (P < .05).

Conclusions: The current study provides evidence that high levels of maternal depression combined with high levels of infant negative affectivity may contribute to mothers' perceptions of infant sleep problems, independent of infant sleep duration and awakenings. These findings highlight the importance for pediatricians and other health professionals to consider infant temperament in conjunction with mothers' depressive symptoms when addressing mothers' concerns about infant sleep problems.

Keywords: depression; infancy; negative affectivity; sleep problem; temperament.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors have seen and approved the manuscript. Work for this study was performed at McGill University. This study was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec (FRQS), the Centre Intégré Universitaire de Santé et de Services Sociaux du Nord-de-I’lle-de-Montréal (CIUSSS-NIM), and McGill University. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Extent of maternally perceived infant sleep problems as a function of the interaction between maternal depressive symptoms and infant negative affectivity.
***P < .001.
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