Mental health articles

Effects on infant and parent mental health
As noted previously, there is little evidence available on the effects of disability
or delay in an infant on infant mental health. It is clear, however, that there is a process of grief that parents go through and there are possible effects on the
establishment of the attachment relationship. Bonding will be affected with
infants who are difficult to hold or do not respond with eye contact, smiles or
other signs of developing attachment, however, it is not necessarily the condition
itself that affects parents’ mental health. In a study of maternal depression in
mothers of premature infants at risk of cerebral palsy, development of depression
was found to be linked to psychosocial stress, rather than to the infant’s
disability (Lambrenos, Weindling, Calam & Cox, 1996), demonstrating the
significance of social and family support for families with a disabled child.

Tags: infant, Mental health