Object Representation, Relationship Satisfaction, Maternal-Fetal Attachment, and Depression in High-Risk Pregnancy

Keller, Mary Jane

Object Representation, Relationship Satisfaction, Maternal-Fetal Attachment, and Depression in High-Risk Pregnancy

dc.contributor.advisor	Brandon, Anna Rachel	en
dc.creator	Keller, Mary Jane	en
dc.date.accessioned	2011-09-30T18:53:35Z
dc.date.available	2012-12-01T18:53:35Z
dc.date.issued	2010-01-12
dc.description.abstract	Little is known about the nature of a woman’s early caregiver object relations and the role they play in her relationship satisfaction, maternal-fetal attachment and possible experience of depression in a high risk pregnancy in the context of antepartum hospitalization. This study investigated the effects of a woman’s internal object representations of her early female and male caregivers and the association between her development as evidenced in her rated written narratives and the relationship satisfaction she experience with her current romantic partner, the attachment she felt toward the child she carried, and her experience of depression in a high risk pregnancy. One hundred sixteen women completed the Object Relations Inventory (ORI), Maternal Antenatal Attachment Scale (MAAS), The Edinburg Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) during antepartum hospitalization. Participants also completed the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). There was a positive correlation between reported satisfaction in a primary romantic relationship and the rating of a woman’s representation of her level Differentiation-Relatedness with her primary male caregiver (ORI-DR-M), usually her father. There was also a significant relationship between depressive symptoms, as measured by the EPDS and the Quality of a woman’s attachment to fetus or unborn child (MAAS-Q). No relationship between a woman’s ORI-DR for her primary male or female caregiver and depressive symptoms was identified. Nor was any association found between dependency (anaclitic depression) and a woman object representation of her mother or self-criticism (introjective depression) and a woman’s object representation of her father. The findings do suggest that the object representation level of woman’s relationship with her father influences the quality of her relationship with her romantic partner during hospitalization for complications of pregnancy. [Keywords: high risk pregnancy; maternal-fetal attachment; Object Relations Inventory; relationship satisfaction; father; object representation; pregnancy; depression]	en
dc.identifier.oclc	761081106
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/904
dc.language.iso	en	en
dc.subject	Pregnancy, High-Risk	en
dc.subject	Maternal-Fetal Relations	en
dc.subject	Depression	en
dc.title	Object Representation, Relationship Satisfaction, Maternal-Fetal Attachment, and Depression in High-Risk Pregnancy	en
dc.type	Thesis	en
dc.type.material	Text	en
thesis.degree.department	Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences	en
thesis.degree.discipline	Clinical Psychology	en
thesis.degree.grantor	UT Southwestern Medical Center	en
thesis.degree.level	Doctoral	en
thesis.degree.name	Doctor of Philosophy	en