Are maternal anxiety/depression/insomnia symptoms and executive functioning related to perceived parenting stress at one year postpartum?

Abstract

Parental stress can have severe repercussions on the mother’s and the child’s health, and on the everyday functioning of the family. Psychiatric symptoms of the mother, especially anxiety and depression, are well-known predictors for parental stress. There are also indications that sleep disturbance of the parent is associated with parental stress. On the other hand, the relationship between maternal executive functions and parental stress is less clear. The present study investigated whether maternal depression, anxiety, sleep disturbance, and executive functions are associated with maternal parental stress. The sample (n = 57) was drawn from the FinnBrain Birth Cohort study. Symptoms of depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance were measured with self report questionnaires (EPDS, SCL-90, AIS). Executive functions were assessed with five tasks from a computerized neuropsychological test battery (Cogstate). The dependent variable, mothers’ parental stress, was evaluated by a questionnaire (SPSQ). Multiple regression analyses showed that depression and anxiety was positively associated with the SPSQ sum score and the subscale Incompetence. Higher rates of sleep disturbance were related to lower subjective estimation on the parental stress subscale Health .Worse executive functioning was related to the subjective estimation of more dysfunctional relationships within the family. The results highlight the importance of detecting potential psychiatric symptoms to reach out to mothers at risk for developing parental stress, and indicate that different aspects of maternal well-being and functioning can be related to different aspects of parental stress.