The role of the figure of the child’s father in the development of maternal attitude to a newborn with a disease
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33910/2686-9527-2024-6-4-534-542Keywords:
role of father figure, attitude to newborn, triad ‘mother-father-child’, euphoric component, hysterical type of reaction, neurotic depression, astheniaAbstract
Introduction. The father’s formative influence on the mental health and cognitive development of children has been widely recognized in respect of different age ranges. However, there are no studies focusing on the figure of the child’s father in the development of maternal attitude to a newborn with a disease. This study investigates a woman’s subjective perception of the attitude of the child’s father towards her and the impact of such perception on the woman’s emotional state and her attitude to a newborn with a disease in the early postpartum period.
Materials and Methods. The study was conducted in the early postpartum period. The main group included 126 women whose pregnancy ended with the birth of a child with a disease. All the women in the main group were receiving hospital care at a neonatal pathology department. The control group included 80 women with a healthy newborn. All the women in the control group were staying at a maternity hospital. The following methods were used: semi-structured interviews; Pregnant Woman’s Attitudes Test by I. V. Dobryakov (modified version), and the Clinical Questionnaire of Neurotic States.
Results. In women who gave birth to a child with a disease, the non-optimal components prevail in the structure of the ‘attitude of the child’s father’ indicator — specifically, the euphoric component (U = 268; p = 0.001) and the anxiety component (U = 245.5; p = 0.007). The euphoric component correlates with the indicators of the scale ‘hysterical type of reaction’ (r = 0.65; p < 0.001). The anxiety component positively correlates with the indicators of the scale ‘neurotic depression’ of the Clinical Questionnaire of Neurotic States (r = 0.63; p < 0.001). A woman’s subjective perception may be irrational and adversely affect the development of the ‘mother-father-child’ triad.
Conclusions. The study complements scientific knowledge about the role of the father figure in the development of the mother’s attitudes towards the newborn. The findings also have a practical significance and confirm the importance of psychological support not only for women, but specifically for the entire ‘mother-father-child’ triad in the early postpartum period.
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