Mid‐pregnancy and postpartum maternal mental health and infant sleep in the first year of life

Mid‐pregnancy and postpartum maternal mental health and infant sleep in the first year of life

Journal of Sleep Research

10.1111/jsr.13804

http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13804

Shirong Cai, Desiree Y. Phua, Elaine K. H. Tham, Daniel Y. T. Goh, Oon H. Teoh, Lynette P. C. Shek, Kok H. Tan, Fabian Yap, Yap‐Seng Chong, Helen Chen, Birit F. P. Broekman, Michael S. Kramer, Michael J. Meaney

General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, mental health

13 December 2022

Cai, S., Phua, D. Y., Tham, E. K. H., Goh, D. Y. T., Teoh, O. H., Shek, L. P. C., Tan, K. H., Yap, F., Chong, Y., Chen, H., Broekman, B. F. P., Kramer, M. S., & Meaney, M. J. (2022). Mid‐pregnancy and postpartum maternal mental health and infant sleep in the first year of life. Journal of Sleep Research. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13804

Perinatal depression and anxiety are common and associated with sleep problems in the offspring. Depression and anxiety are commonly comorbid, yet often studied independently. Our study used an integrative measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms to examine the associations of maternal mental health (mid-pregnancy and postnatal) with infant sleep during the first year of life. A total of 797 mother–child dyads from the ‘Growing Up in Singapore Towards healthy Outcome’ cohort study provided infant sleep data at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months of age, using the caregiver reported Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire. Maternal mental health was assessed at 26–28 weeks gestation and 3 months postpartum using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory and State–Trait Anxiety Inventory. Bifactor modelling with the individual questionnaire items produced a general affect factor score that provided an integrated measure of anxiety and depressive symptoms. Linear mixed models were used to model the sleep outcomes, with adjustment for maternal age, education, parity, ethnicity, sex of the child and maternal sleep quality concurrent with maternal mental health assessment. We found that poorer mid-pregnancy, but not postpartum, maternal mental health was associated with longer wake after sleep onset duration across the first year of life (β = 49, 95% confidence interval 13–85 min). Poor maternal mental health during mid-pregnancy is linked to longer period of night awakening in the offspring during infancy. Interventions that aim to improve maternal antenatal mental health should examine infant sleep outcomes.

Publisher Copyright

This research / project is supported by the Singapore National Research Foundation - Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Program
Grant Reference no. : NMRC/TCR/004-NUS/2008

This research / project is supported by the National Medical Research Council - Translational and Clinical Research (TCR) Flagship Program
Grant Reference no. : NMRC/ TCR/012-NUHS/2014

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Cai, S., Phua, D. Y., Tham, E. K. H., Goh, D. Y. T., Teoh, O. H., Shek, L. P. C., Tan, K. H., Yap, F., Chong, Y., Chen, H., Broekman, B. F. P., Kramer, M. S., & Meaney, M. J. (2022). Mid‐pregnancy and postpartum maternal mental health and infant sleep in the first year of life. Journal of Sleep Research. Portico. https://doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13804 , which has been published in final form at doi.org/10.1111/jsr.13804. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited

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