Psychological distress and mother-child relationship: influence of life context on a population sample (BRISA) through the use of directed acyclic graphs (DAG)

Author(s)

M.C.V. Cavalcante ^[1] ; Z.C. Lamy ^[2] ; A.K.T.C. França ^[3] ; M.U.L. Pereira ; A.A. Ferraro ^[5] ; M.A. Barbieri ^[6] ; F. Lamy-Filho ^[7]

Affiliation

^[1] Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Hospital Universitário - Brasil

^[2] Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Departamento de Saúde Pública - Brasil

^[3] Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas - Brasil

^[5] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina. Departamento de Pediatria - Brasil

^[6] Universidade de São Paulo. Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto. Departamento de Puericultura e Pediatria - Brasil

^[7] Universidade Federal do Maranhão. Departamento de Medicina III - Brasil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research; v. 54, n. 1 2020-12-07.

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the association between maternal psychological distress and impairment in mother-child relationship in a sample from a Northeast capital city in Brazil with a low Human Development Index, using directed acyclic graphs (DAG). A total of 3,215 women were evaluated for the presence of psychological distress through the Self Reporting Questionnaire instrument and for the mother-child relationship by the first factor of Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire, considered the most appropriate in the literature. Demographic and socioeconomic variables were used to construct a theoretical model and, after this, multivariate logistic regression was performed using variables suggested by Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAG). Psychological distress was present in 22.7% of the women and 12.6% of them presented impaired mother-child relationships. After adjustment, the variable ‘maternal mental distress' remained associated with impaired mother-child relationship (RR=3.03), and among the explanatory variables only ‘primary school level' (RR=1.48) was associated as a risk factor to this outcome. The results indicated that, in this population, women with psychological distress and lower schooling are more likely to present impaired mother-child relationships. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 08/53593-0 - Etiological factors of preterm birth and consequences of perinatal factors in child health: birth cohorts in two Brazilian cities (BRISA project)
• Grantee: Marco Antonio Barbieri
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants