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Review
. 2023 Mar;34(1):25-45.
doi: 10.1007/s12110-023-09440-8. Epub 2023 Feb 8.

Grandparental Support and Maternal Postpartum Mental Health : A Review and Meta-Analysis

Madelon M E Riem  1   2 , Marian J Bakermans-Kranenburg  3 , Maaike Cima  4 , Marinus H van IJzendoorn  5
Affiliations
Review

Grandparental Support and Maternal Postpartum Mental Health : A Review and Meta-Analysis

Madelon M E Riem et al. Hum Nat. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Support from grandparents plays a role in mothers' perinatal mental health. However, previous research on maternal mental health has mainly focused on influences of partner support or general social support and neglected the roles of grandparents. In this narrative review and meta-analysis, the scientific evidence on the association between grandparental support and maternal perinatal mental health is reviewed. Searches in PubMed, EMBASE, MEDLINE, Scopus, and PsycINFO yielded 11 empirical studies on N = 3381 participants, reporting on 35 effect sizes. A multilevel approach to meta-analysis was applied to test the association between grandparental support and maternal mental health. The results showed a small, statistically significant association (r = .16; 95% CI: 0.09-0.25). A moderator test indicated that the association was stronger for studies reporting on support from the maternal grandmother in particular (r = .23; 95% CI: 0.06-0.29). Our findings suggest that involved grandparents, in particular mother's own mother, constitute a protective factor for the development of maternal postpartum mental health problems. These findings have clear implications for interventions. Future studies should examine whether stimulating high-quality support from grandparents is a fruitful avenue for enhancing maternal postpartum mental health.

Keywords: Childcare involvement; Grandparents; Maternal postpartum mental health; Support.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot of the 35 effect sizes included in the meta-analysis
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The p-curve analysis performed on k = 20 significant effect sizes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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