Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Emily D. Gerstein
Final Abstract for URS Program
Prenatal depression is associated with lower maternal-fetal attachment (Dubber et al., 2015; Filippetti et al., 2022; Kitamura et al., 2025; Røhder et al., 2020). Trauma exposure and PTSD symptomology have also been linked to lower maternal-fetal attachment (Bailes et al., 2024; Can Caglayan et al., 2023; Sanjuan et al., 2020). This study examines the moderating effect of each; Criterion A trauma exposure and PTSD symptoms on the relationship between prenatal depression and maternal-fetal attachment. It is hypothesized that more depressive symptoms will be associated with lower maternal-fetal attachment and that trauma experience will moderate the relation between depressive symptoms and maternal-fetal attachment, so that the relation will be stronger when individuals have been exposed to a traumatic event or have greater PTSD Symptomatology. A sample of 338 pregnant individuals were surveyed using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS; Cox et al., 1987), PTSD Checklist for the DSM-V (PCL-5; Blevins et al., 2015), and the Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS; Condon, 1993). Regression models used PROCESS in SPSS to evaluate the significance of each moderator. As hypothesized, greater depressive symptoms were associated with lower maternal-fetal attachment. In addition, trauma exposure alone was not associated with fetal attachment, nor did it moderate the relationship between depressive symptoms and maternal-fetal attachment. However, PTSD symptomology did moderate the relationship between prenatal depressive symptoms and maternal-fetal attachment. Contrary to expectations, the moderating power is reduced when there are high levels of PTSD symptomology. This model explained 34.8% of the variance in maternal-fetal attachment.
Presentation Type
Visual Presentation
Document Type
Article