Are Women's Parenting-Specific Beliefs Associated with Depressive Symptoms in the Perinatal Period?: Development of the Rigidity of Maternal Beliefs Scale

Purpose:  A major focus of perinatal depression research centers on its adverse effects on women’s health, parenting behavior, and children’s development.  Although these effects are widely known, there has been little examination of cognitive factors, or maternal beliefs, that are associated with perinatal depression.  These beliefs may be the filter through which parenting-related emotions are experienced and regulated and are associated with a host of parenting behaviors.   We created a new measure that examined the rigidity of perinatal women’s beliefs in three major domains suggested to be closely related to mood and behavior: anticipated maternal self-efficacy, perceptions of child vulnerability, and perceptions of societal expectations of mothers.

 

Methods:  A 26-item measure (The Rigidity of Maternal Beliefs Scale, RMBS) was developed. Data were collected using a longitudinal survey design with a sample of 134 women who were in the third trimester of pregnancy (M = 31.1 weeks) and were recruited through a perinatal mental health registry affiliated with a large Midwestern university.  The women returned the RMBS, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Parenting Sense of Competence (PSOC) by mail.  Of those, 113 women (84%) also returned postpartum questionnaires.   Most participants were white (84%), and had partners (91%), with an average age of 30.7 years.

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to examine the factor structure of the RMBS.  Principal axis factoring was utilized for the extraction method as well as Promax rotation with Kaiser normalization.  Initial factors were determined by those with an eigenvalue greater than one and examination of the scree plot.  After individual factors were identified, Cronbach’s alpha tested the internal consistency and bivariate correlations explored the measure’s stability, discriminant validity, and convergent validity.  Finally, regression analyses tested the predictive validity of the RMBS for postpartum depressive symptoms.  All analyses were completed using SPSS 20. 

 

Results:  The EFA supported a four-factor solution, resulting in subscales of Maternal Confidence, Role Identity, Perceptions of Societal Expectations of Mothers, and Maternal Dichotomy, corresponding with two of the three hypothesized factors.  This solution explained 44.10% of the variance, was most interpretable, and resulted in a 24-item final measure. Cronbach’s alpha confirmed the internal consistency of the RMBS, while bivariate correlations revealed the measure had good test-retest reliability, as well as discriminant and convergent validity with the PSOC.  Regression analyses established predictive validity of the entire RMBS for postpartum depressive symptoms (EPDS) after controlling for initial level of depressive symptoms.  When all subscales were entered separately the Maternal Dichotomy subscale significantly predicted postpartum depressive symptoms beyond initial depressive symptoms.

 

Implications:  The RMBS may be useful with clinical populations to identify maladaptive or rigid thoughts, which could be a focus of intervention.  This tool may also be used to guide conversation about motherhood expectations within any context where pregnant women present (e.g. prenatal care, social services), as well as potentially identifying women who are at risk for postpartum depression in clinical contexts.  Future studies should also examine the RMBS with different populations to explore if beliefs differ by culture, race, or socioeconomic status.