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. 2024 Sep 14;37(1):38.
doi: 10.1186/s41155-024-00321-2.

Role of self-criticism in postpartum mental health: a network analysis

Bruna Cardoso Gerhardt  1 , Jovana Giacobo Serra  2 , Camila Zimmer  2 , Adriane Xavier Arteche  2
Affiliations

Role of self-criticism in postpartum mental health: a network analysis

Bruna Cardoso Gerhardt et al. Psicol Reflex Crit. .

Abstract

Purpose: A significant percentage of women experience psychopathological symptoms during the postpartum period, which can impact not only their mental health and well-being but also the relationship between mother and baby. However, studies investigating how specific psychological factors, such as self-compassion and self-criticism, contribute to the development and maintenance of these symptoms are scarce.

Methods: This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship among compassionate self-responding (CSR), uncompassionate self-responding (USR), maternal mental health indicators, mother-infant bonding, and the perceived impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected online from 189 Brazilian women with infants aged 0 to 12 months. Participants completed measures of sociodemographic characteristics, Self-Compassion Scale (SCS), Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale (PSAS-BR-RSF-C), Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), and COVID-19-Impact on Quality of Life (COV19-QoL).

Results: Through network analysis, our findings highlighted that postpartum depression played a central role in the structuring of variables in this system. Furthermore, USR, instead of CSR, emerged as the variable most strongly associated with levels of postpartum depression, which, in turn, was associated with mother-infant bonding.

Conclusion: Mitigating levels of self-criticism in mothers may represent a pathway to prevent the development of postpartum depression, which, in turn, could impact the quality of the mother-infant relationship. Given the significance of the child's early years for their emotional development, intervening early in maternal mental health may be a means to prevent mental disorders in the child as well.

Keywords: Network analysis; Pandemic; Postpartum; Self-compassion; Self-criticism.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Network analysis (CSR and USR). Note: Abbreviations: COV19-QoL = COVID-19–Impact on Quality of Life; EPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; PSAS-BR = Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale–Short Version for Global Crises; PBQ_12 = Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire; USR = Uncompassionate Self-Responding; CSR = Compassionate Self-Responding. Figure provided by JASP (version 0.15)
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Network analysis (Self-compassion Scale Total Score). Note: Abbreviations: COV19-QoL = COVID-19–Impact on Quality of Life; EPDS = Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; PSAS-BR = Postpartum Specific Anxiety Scale–Short Version for Global Crises; PBQ_12 = Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire; SCS = Self-compassion Scale Total Score. Figure provided by JASP (version 0.15)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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