Social connectedness in the transition to parenthood: Implications for parent and child health and well-being

项目摘要 促进儿童积极适应技能的最重要方法之一是改善照顾者- 6、7.产后情绪障碍影响高达40%的新父母8-10岁，并给孩子带来重大风险 发展8，11.此外，为人父母的转变引发了社会生活的变化，这可能会导致新的 父母--包括父亲和母亲--感到孤独，社会联系更少，这可能会加剧衰退 在父母的心理健康方面，4.社会连通性--人们感觉与他人亲近和联系的程度 人--与一生中心理和身体健康的改善有关12-14。更进一步，社交 连接性与其他关系过程只有适度的相关性，比如社交网络的规模， 关系满意度和社会支持15，这表明它可能会赋予独特的保护性好处。然而， 值得注意的是，很少有研究系统地研究转型期间社会联系的变化 为人父母及其对产后心理健康和儿童发展的影响。鉴于独一无二的 研究表明，在过渡到父母的过程中发生的神经生物学、心理社会和行为变化。 关于围产期的社会联系及其与儿童发展的联系是必要的。我们 建议填补此次R21调查中的这一关键知识空白。具体地说，我们将检查社会 首次怀孕的父母之间的关联性及其与健康和幸福的关系 从怀孕到产后4个月的结局。我们将纳入社会保障的综合措施 联系(孤独、联系)、痛苦(抑郁、焦虑和与出生相关的创伤后应激障碍症状)， 幸福(积极和消极情绪，生活满意度)，儿童发展(分娩结果，贝利 量表、气质)和照料结果(父母敏感、父母亲情、父母反思 功能)。我们认为，社会联系的变化将与父母产后的 痛苦和幸福，以及独立于其他社会的儿童发展和照料结果 流程。此外，我们还提出，父母的心理健康将是一个连接心理社会的机制。 社会联系对儿童结果的影响。这项研究的发现将是重要的，因为它们将 第一次展示了母亲和父亲的社会联系对跨代人的独特影响， 改变多个研究领域的理解，包括产后心理健康研究， 为人父、孩子的发展和亲密的关系。此外，这项研究的成功完成 将为进一步研究生物、心理和社会机制奠定经验基础 围产期与健康和福祉的关联性，这将为新的干预措施提供信息 以更广泛的社会联系为目标的方法。鉴于父母心理健康对孩子的重要性 发展，改善父母的经历有望造福整个家庭。

Project Summary One of the most important methods of promoting children’s positive adaptive skills is improving caregiver well- being6,7. Postpartum mood disorders affect up to 40% of new parents8-10, and confer significant risk to child development8,11. Additionally, the transition to parenthood triggers changes to social life, which may lead new parents—both mothers and fathers—to feel lonely and less socially connected3, which may exacerbate declines in parents’ mental health4,5. Social connectedness—the extent to which people feel close and connected to other people—is linked with improved mental and physical health across the lifespan12-14. Further, social connectedness is only moderately correlated with other relationship processes, such as social network size, relationship satisfaction, and social support15, suggesting that it may confer unique protective benefits. However, remarkably few studies have systematically investigated changes in social connectedness during the transition to parenthood and their implications for postpartum mental health and child development. Given the unique neurobiological, psychosocial, and behavioral changes that occur during the transition to parenthood16, research on social connectedness during the perinatal period and its connection to child development is needed. We propose to fill this critical knowledge gap in this R21 investigation. Specifically, we will examine social connectedness among first-time expectant mothers and fathers and their associations with health and well-being outcomes from pregnancy to 4-months postpartum. We will incorporate comprehensive measures of social connectedness (loneliness, connectedness), distress (depressive, anxiety, and birth-related PTSD symptoms), well-being (positive and negative emotion, life satisfaction), child development (delivery outcomes, Bayley Scales, temperament), and caregiving outcomes (parental sensitivity, parental bonding, parental reflective functioning). We propose that changes in social connectedness will be associated with parents’ postpartum distress and well-being, as well as child development and caregiving outcomes independent of other social processes. Furthermore, we propose that parents’ mental health will be one psychosocial mechanism linking social connectedness to child outcomes. The findings from this research will be important as they will demonstrate for the first time the unique transgenerational impact of mothers’ and fathers’ social connectedness, transforming understanding across multiple areas of research, including research on postpartum mental health, fatherhood, child development, and close relationships. Moreover, the successful completion of this research will establish an empirical foundation for additional investigations on biopsychosocial mechanisms linking social connectedness to health and well-being during the perinatal period, which will inform new intervention approaches targeting broader social connectedness. Given the importance of parent mental health for child development, improving parents’ experiences promises to benefit the entire family.