Abstract
Purpose: Prior retrospective evidence links parental care when growing up to later mental health in the perinatal period, but prospective evidence on a broader range of perinatal outcomes is limited. This study aimed to estimate the effect of low parental care (maternal, paternal, or both) during adolescence on psychosocial wellbeing in women at one year postpartum.
Methods: We emulated a target trial using observational data from a preconception cohort study, the Victorian Intergenerational Health Cohort Study (N = 398 women, 609 infants). At age 16 years, adolescents reported on care from their parental figures. After becoming parents themselves, up to 20 years later, they were assessed at one year postpartum on psychosocial wellbeing outcomes (social support, partner coercive control, depressive symptoms, parenting anxiety, and parenting self-efficacy). Generalised estimating equations were used to estimate relative risks of each outcome by low parental care, adjusted for potential baseline confounders.
Results: Low parental care was associated with a number of aspects of women's social and psychological wellbeing at one year postpartum. The strongest evidence was observed for low maternal care and high family social support (aRR = 0.84, 95%CI 0.72-0.97), high partner coercive control (aRR = 1.38, 95%CI 1.05-1.83), and high depressive symptoms (aRR = 2.03, 95%CI 1.07-3.86). For most outcomes, effect sizes for one low-care caregiver were similar to effect sizes for two low-care caregivers.
Conclusions: Women who report one or more primary caregiver relationships characterised by low care in adolescence may face increased risk for psychological difficulties within a context of fewer social supports after becoming parents.