Psychological flexibility and role satisfaction as serial mediators between dispositional mindfulness and postpartum depressive symptoms.

Background: Postpartum depression is a major public health issue impacting women's well-being and infant development. Dispositional mindfulness has been linked to lower severity of postpartum depressive symptoms (PDS), but the mechanisms behind this connection remain unclear. This study examines the serial mediation of psychological flexibility and maternal role satisfaction in the relationship between mindfulness facets and PDS.

Reconsidering the nature of threat in infancy: Integrating animal and human studies on neurobiological effects of infant stress.

Early life stress has been associated with elevated risk for later psychopathology. One mechanism that may contribute to such long-term risk is alterations in amygdala development, a brain region critical to stress responsivity. Yet effects of stress on the amygdala during human infancy, a period of particularly rapid brain development, remain largely unstudied.

Paths from adverse and benevolent childhood experiences to personal growth after childbirth: The role of psychological distress, social support, and self-compassion.

Background: Dealing with the difficulties and demands of the postpartum period may be distressing for the mother, but it is also an opportunity for her to experience personal growth. One factor that may contribute to this growth is the mother's childhood experiences.

Objective: Using a prospective study design, and based on Belsky's parenting model and personal growth theory, we examined the direct and indirect contribution of mothers' adverse and benevolent childhood experiences and their current psychological distress, self-compassion, and social support to their personal growth following childbirth and motherhood.

Contribution of personal and community resources to personal growth of mothers from Israel and Turkey.

Aims: The transition to parenthood is considered one of the most important milestones in a person's life, bringing with it various changes and challenges. One possible outcome of such a life-altering and stressful event is the experience of personal growth (PG). This study examines the contribution of a mother's personal resources (emotion regulation strategies, resilience) and environmental resources (sense of community) to her PG following the transition to motherhood, taking into account the role played by ethnicity.

The contribution of adverse childhood experiences to postpartum maternal reflective functioning: A prospective examination of the role of maternal disintegrative responses and personal growth.

Background: Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) may negatively impact a mother's parental reflective functioning. However, if coping with this difficulty generates personal growth, it may help her to function in a positive reflective manner with her child.

Objective: In a two-phase prospective study, we examined a mediation model and a moderated mediation model depicting the contribution of ACE (Phase 1), maternal disintegrative responses (intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences; Phase 1), and personal growth (Phase 2) to maternal reflective functioning (Phase 2) as expressed in three dimensions: Pre-mentalizing Modes (PM), Certainty about Mental States (CMS), and Interest and Curiosity (IC).

Contributors to COVID-19-Related Childbirth Anxiety among Pregnant Women in Two Pandemic Waves.

COVID-19 has impacted all levels of daily life for people everywhere, with particularly serious implications for pregnant women. This paper examines the COVID-19-related childbirth anxiety (CCA) of Israeli women in the first two waves of the pandemic. We first present two psychotherapeutic case studies with pregnant women in the two waves.

The Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS): Development and initial validation.

Objective: This study aimed to design and examine the validity of the Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS) to assess intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences in the postpartum period.

Method: A convenience sample of 455 mothers whose babies were up to 12 months old completed the MDRS and a series of questionnaires assessing postnatal depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale [EPDS]), childbirth-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and general symptoms of dissociation.

Results: The final scale consists of eight items tapping two dimensions, intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences, and displays good psychometric properties.

The Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS) and its associations with attachment orientation and childhood trauma.

Background: The Maternal Disintegrative Responses Scale (MDRS), which examines intrusive thoughts and dissociative experiences among mothers in the postpartum period, has recently been developed and initially validated.

Objective: In this series of two studies, we sought to further examine the validity and psychometric properties of the MDRS by confirming its factor structure and investigating its associations with insecure attachment and childhood trauma.

Participants And Setting: Two convenience samples were recruited through social media.

Posttraumatic growth in the wake of COVID-19 among Jewish and Arab pregnant women in Israel.

Objective: On the assumption that coping with a crisis from a position of vulnerability may elicit not only negative but also positive outcomes, this study examined posttraumatic growth (PTG) among Jewish and Arab pregnant women 6-7 months into the COVID-19 pandemic, exploring the contribution of ethnicity, personal resources (intolerance of uncertainty, optimism, and self-compassion), and COVID-19-related anxieties. In addition, the moderating roles of ethnicity, optimism, and self-compassion were examined.

Method: A convenience sample of 916 Israeli women (517 Jewish, 399 Arab) was recruited from July 5 to October 7, 2020.

Parenthood in the shadow of COVID-19: The contribution of gender, personal resources and anxiety to first time parents' perceptions of the infant.

We sought to examine new parents' perceptions of their infant during the worldwide spread of COVID-19, exploring the contribution of gender, personal resources (attachment orientation, presence of meaning in life and intolerance of uncertainty) and COVID-19-related anxieties. A convenience sample of 606 Israeli first-time parents (137 fathers and 469 mothers), whose child was 3-12 months old, was recruited through social media during April 2020. Findings indicate that being a woman, younger age, lower education, better physical health, older infant's age, lower attachment anxiety, higher presence of meaning in life and greater COVID-19-related anxiety over the infant's health contributed significantly to a greater perception of infant's warmth; being a father, higher education and economic status, poorer physical health, higher attachment anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty and less presence of meaning in life contributed significantly to a greater perception of infant's invasiveness.

Psychological distress, optimism and emotion regulation among Israeli Jewish and Arab pregnant women during COVID-19.

Background: Pregnancy is a vulnerable period for women, and it is especially so under the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. Whereas there is some evidence for distress among pregnant women during the outspread of COVID-19, little is known about the second wave of the pandemic. We therefore sought to examine the contribution of background variables, ethnicity (Jewish, Arab), personal resources (optimism, emotion regulation), and COVID-19-related anxieties to pregnant Israeli women's psychological distress.

Personal growth in early pregnancy: the role of perceived stress and emotion regulation.

Objective: Coping with the stress aroused by early pregnancy can not only result in distress, but may constitute an opportunity to experience personal growth. Relying on the model of posttraumatic growth, this study examined the contribution of perceived stress and emotion regulation to women's personal growth during the first trimester of pregnancy.

Method: A convenience sample of Israeli women (n=170), who were during their first trimester of pregnancy (up to 13 weeks), over 18 years old, and capable to completing the instruments in Hebrew, were recruited through a women's health clinic and through social media during the years 2017-2019.

Parenting stress among new parents before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The outbreak of COVID-19 has forced parents to deal with a challenging crisis, which may have increased their stress levels, negatively affecting their parenting and putting their infants at risk of abuse.

Objective: To examine the contribution of the pandemic to parenting stress, exploring differences in parenting stress among new parents before and during the crisis, the role of background and personal variables, and the possibility that the study phase moderated the associations of gender and personal resources with parenting stress.

Method: Israeli parents (n = 1591) whose first child was 3-12 months old were recruited twice through social media: in 2019, before the spread of COVID-19 (n = 985); and in March 2020, during the pandemic (n = 606).

Meaning in Life among New Mothers before and during the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Role of Mothers' Marital Satisfaction and Perception of the Infant.

On the assumption that existential questions may arise in the face of the transition to motherhood in the shadow of a global crisis, we sought to compare the levels of presence of meaning and search for meaning in life between two samples of new mothers: one recruited before the outbreak of COVID-19, and the other during the pandemic. In addition, we examined the associations between mother's marital satisfaction and perception of the infant on the one hand, and the two aspects of meaning in life on the other, investigating whether these variables mediate the link between research group and meaning in life. The results indicate that mothers reported significantly higher perception of infant's warmth and presence of meaning before than during the pandemic.

Childbirth anxieties in the shadow of COVID-19: Self-compassion and social support among Jewish and Arab pregnant women in Israel.

The study examined two angles of childbirth anxieties of Jewish and Arab pregnant women in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic (March-April, 2020). Specifically, we examined the contribution of personal resources: self-compassion and perceived social support, as well as a couple of COVID-19-related fears of being infected and concern for the foetus, to both the woman's global fear of childbirth (FOC) and her COVID-19-related childbirth anxiety. Participants were Jewish and Arab pregnant women (n = 403) aged 20-47, who completed a set of structured self-report questionnaires from 18 March to 9 April 2020.

Jewish and Arab pregnant women's psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic: the contribution of personal resources.

Objective: The study sought to examine the psychological distress of Israeli pregnant women during the worldwide spread of COVID-19. As Israel has a diverse cultural-religious population, the sample included both Jewish and Arab women, allowing us to explore the differences between them. Furthermore, we examined the contribution of personal resources, both internal (self-mastery and resilience) and external (perceived social support), as well as the level of infection-related anxiety to the women's psychological distress.

Distress and anxiety associated with COVID-19 among Jewish and Arab pregnant women in Israel.

Introduction: The fact that little is yet known about the possible implications of COVID-19 for pregnancy, puts pregnant women at greater risk of heightened anxiety and psychological distress. In this study, we sought to explore the psychological distress and COVID-19-related anxiety of pregnant women during the crisis.

Methods: Israeli Jewish and Arab pregnant women (n = 336) aged 20-47 completed a set of questionnaires during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

Early Maternal Caregiving: A Conceptualization of Maternal Compassion Preoccupation.

The literature refers extensively to the ramifications of the mother's care on her infant. However, little attention has been paid to the effects of maternal caregiving on the emotional experience of the mother herself. Using grounded theory methodology, we sought to contribute to fill this gap, and conducted open indepth interviews with 20 Israeli mothers of infants up to 3 months of age.

Personal growth of single mothers by choice in the transition to motherhood: a comparative study.

: In view of the heightened stress that might accompany a woman's decision to have a child on her own, we examined the experience of personal growth following the transition to motherhood of single mothers by choice and a comparison group of mothers in a couple relationship. We also examined the contribution of attachment style, resilience, and perceived social support to mothers' personal growth.: The sample consisted of 152 first-time Israeli mothers aged 28-48 whose children were no older than two.