Maternal Guilt and Shame: Relationship to Postnatal Depression and Attitudes towards Help-Seeking.

Existing literature indicates that women can experience feelings of shame and guilt in relation to motherhood. This study investigated whether maternal feelings of shame and guilt were associated with postnatal depressive symptoms and attitudes towards help-seeking. A cross-sectional, correlational...

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Published in:Journal of Child & Family Studies Vol. 26; no. 6; pp. 1692 - 1702
Main Authors: Dunford, Emma, Granger, Charlotte
Format: Article
Published: Springer Nature Jun2017
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2017
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          Dunford, Emma
          Granger, Charlotte
        affil:
          Children's Psychological Medicine , Oxford University Hospitals , Oxford, Headley Way, Headington Oxford OX3 9DU UK
          Norfolk and Suffolk Foundation Trust , Norwich UK
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        United Kingdom
        Psychology of mothers
        Guilt (Psychology)
        Shame
        Help-seeking behavior
        Mother-infant relationship
        Psychology of women
        Motherhood & psychology
        Psychology
        Attitudes of mothers
        Experience
        Social support
        Cross-sectional method
        Postpartum depression
        Statistical correlation
        Questionnaires
      sug:
        subj:
          Psychology of mothers
          Guilt (Psychology)
          Shame
          Help-seeking behavior
          Mother-infant relationship
          Psychology of women
          Motherhood & psychology
          Psychology
          Attitudes of mothers
          Experience
          Social support
          Cross-sectional method
          United Kingdom
          Other Individual and Family Services
          Postpartum depression
          Statistical correlation
          Questionnaires
      keyword:
        Guilt
        Help-seeking
        Mothers
        Postnatal depression
        Guilt
        Help-seeking
        Mothers
        Postnatal depression
      ab: Existing literature indicates that women can experience feelings of shame and guilt in relation to motherhood. This study investigated whether maternal feelings of shame and guilt were associated with postnatal depressive symptoms and attitudes towards help-seeking. A cross-sectional, correlational design was employed. Shame and guilt were measured as both dispositional factors and contextual factors i.e. in relation to motherhood (event-related shame and guilt). A UK community sample of 183 mothers with an infant between 4 weeks and 1 year of age completed a series of online questionnaires. The results indicated that shame proneness significantly predicted postnatal depressive symptoms once demographics and social support had been accounted for. Furthermore, shame proneness significantly predicted less positive attitudes towards help-seeking. Guilt proneness was not a significant predictor of postnatal depressive symptoms or attitudes towards help-seeking. These findings highlight the potential negative consequences of maternal feelings of shame in the postnatal period.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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