Parental psychological distress and confidence after an infant’s birth: The role of attachment representations in parents of infants with congenital anomalies and parents of healthy infants.

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine parental psychological distress and confidence after the infant’s birth, when parenting an infant with a diagnosis of a congenital anomaly, and to understand the role of attachment representations on parental adjustment. Parents of infants with a congenital anomaly (44 couples) and parents of healthy infants (46 couples) completed measures of adult attachment representations and of psychological distress and parental confidence (one month after the infant’s birth). Results showed no group differences in psychological distress. Mothers in the clinical group presented lower confidence than mothers in the comparison group, while for fathers the inverse pattern was found, showing their involvement in the caretaking of the infant. Insecure attachment representations predicted parental psychological distress, and a moderator role of group was found only for fathers; these results highlight the role of secure attachment representations as an individual resource in stress-inducing situations.