1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«The current study sought to build upon previous research by assessing whether maternal depressive symptoms and infant negative affectivity are not only uniquely associated, but also interactively associated, with maternal perceptions of infant sleep problems at 6 months postpartum, while accounting for infant sleep.» (p. 1280)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We hypothesized that greater depressive symptoms and greater infant negative affectivity would be associated with more severe perceptions of infant sleep problems, independent of infant sleep factors. We further hypothesized that infant negative affectivity would moderate the relation between mothers’ depressive symptoms and their sleep problem perceptions, such that mothers with the highest levels of depressive symptoms would perceive the greatest extent of sleep problems in infants with the highest levels of negative affectivity.» (p. 1280)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«As part of a larger study investigating sleep, parental practices, and mood in new parents, 59 mothers were recruited through social media advertisements targeting families in the Greater Montreal area (Quebec, Canada). Only data from the first time point, when the mothers’ infants were 6 months old, were used in the present study. Mothers who were at least 18 years of age and fluent in English or French were eligible.» (p. 1280)

Instruments :
Questionnaire

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms and infant negative affectivity were associated with a greater degree of perceived infant sleep problems. Moreover, the present results add to current knowledge by showing that infant negative affectivity moderated the relation between mothers’ depressive symptoms and their perceptions of infant sleep problems. Mothers high in depression perceived a greater degree of infant sleep problems if their infant was high, but not low, in negative affectivity. Importantly, these associations were found irrespective of infant sleep, maternal age, and parity. In our sample, 27% of mothers perceived their infant’s sleep to be somewhat to definitely a problem, which is consistent with the range reported in the literature.» (p. 1282)