Maternal stressors and maternal bonding among immigrant and Refugee Arab Americans resettled in the United States.
Dalia Khalil, Zinah George, Eman Dannawey and 3 others
PMID 38149856WHAT IT FOUND
In 78 Arab American mothers, posttraumatic stress and depressive symptoms were linked to poorer bonding.
Depressive symptoms were linked to both stressors and bonding. No intervention was tested, so this flags risk, not proof.
Key findings
01In the sample of 78 mothers, 15 (19%) scored above 10 on the depression screen and 14 (18%) reported clinically significant posttraumatic stress.
02All study variables showed significant positive correlations in the moderate to strong range, including depressive symptoms with bonding impairment (rho = 0.52) and posttraumatic stress with depressive symptoms (rho = 0.60).
03Posttraumatic stress had a significant indirect effect on bonding through depressive symptoms (beta = 0.34, 95% CI = 0.18, 0.53), while its direct effect was not significant (beta = -0.06, 95% CI = -0.33, 0.21). The indirect effect for acculturative stress was not significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small (78) and recruited by convenience from low-income families, so findings may not apply to other immigrant or refugee mothers. All measures were maternal self-report, including bonding, so results could be biased by how mothers felt when answering. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that stress or depression caused bonding problems. Data were collected during the pandemic, which may have added isolation and stress beyond ordinary resettlement. Missing responses were imputed with item medians for 12 participants.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not report a funding source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that treating posttraumatic stress or acculturative stress will improve bonding. This was a cross-sectional survey of 78 mothers, and it showed associations, not cause and effect. The stressors were not significant predictors of bonding once depressive symptoms were included, and no intervention was tested.