Yukiko Ohashi

Temperament, Character, and Depressive Symptoms during Pregnancy: A Study of a Japanese Population

Background. To examine the effects of temperament and character domains on depression during pregnancy. Methods. We examined 601 pregnant women using a questionnaire that included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS), the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI), and demographic variables. Results. In a hierarchical regression analysis, severity of depression during pregnancy was predicted by the womens negative response towards the current pregnancy, low self-directedness, and high harm avoidance, persistence, and self-transcendence. Conclusion. Depression during pregnancy is predicted by personality traits as well as womens negative attitudes towards the current pregnancy.

Mother-To-Infant Bonding Disorder, but not Depression, 5 days After Delivery is a Risk Factor For Neonate Emotional Abuse: A Study in Japanese Mothers of 1-Month Olds

RESEARCH ARTICLE Mother-To-Infant Bonding Disorder, but not Depression, 5 days After Delivery is a Risk Factor For Neonate Emotional Abuse: A Study in Japanese Mothers of 1-Month Olds Yukiko Ohashi, Kyoko Sakanashi, Tomoko Tanaka and Toshinori Kitamura Kitamura Institute of Mental Health Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Science Technology, Bunkyo Gakuin University, Japan Department of Women’s Health/Mother-Child Nursing, Faculty of Life Science, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan Aso Health Center, Kumamoto Prefecture, Aso, Japan Department of Psychiatry, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan

Cross-National Differences in Psychosocial Factors of Perinatal Depression: A Systematic Review of India and Japan

Perinatal depression is prevalent worldwide. However, there are few available studies that discuss the different cultural factors affecting perinatal depression within Asian countries. This study aims to compare the literature regarding related factors relating to perinatal depression in India and Japan, and to synthesize the evidence common to both countries in addition to the country-specific evidence. We conducted a systematic review using several databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, Pubmed, Ovid, SCOPUS, IndMED, and ICHUSI). Keywords were “antenatal depression” or “postpartum depression”, and “India” or “Japan”. Both Japanese and English language papers were reviewed. The identified evidence was compared between the two countries, as well as with non-Asian countries based on previous reports. In total, 15 articles on India and 35 on Japan were reviewed. Although several factors were shared between the two countries as well as with other non-Asian countries (vulnerable personality, being abused, age, marital conflict, and lower socio-demographic status), some differing factors were identified between India and Japan and non-Asian countries; India: poor socioeconomic status, living only with the husband, pregnancy not welcomed by the husband, a female baby, and poor relationship with in-laws; Japan: infertility treatment, conflict with work–life balance, poor relationships with biological mother or in-laws, and concerns about social relations with the other mother’s friends. To conclude, involving the family and community may be important for implementing both global standardized and culture-specific interventions. In India, treatment involving the in-laws may be effective because large family structure is a significant predictor of perinatal depression. In Japan, a family/community approach involving not only the mother’s family of origin but also the working environment is essential.

Disagreement between parents on the assessment of child's temperament traits

Accuracy of temperament assessment is a prerequisite in research studies. To identify the extent to which parental assessment of child temperament is biased by their personal attributes, we proposed a new structural equation model, in which biases of parental attributes in their assessment of child temperament can be separated from the true (i.e. non‐biased) associations between the two.

Disagreement between parents on assessment of child temperament traits

Accuracy of temperament assessment is a prerequisite in research studies. To identify the extent to which parental assessment of child temperament is biased by their personal attributes, we proposed a new structural equation model, in which biases of parental attributes in their assessment of child temperament can be separated from the true (i.e. non‐biased) associations between the two.

Postpartum Bonding Disorder: Factor Structure, Validity, Reliability and a Model Comparison of the Postnatal Bonding Questionnaire in Japanese Mothers of Infants

Negative attitudes of mothers towards their infant is conceptualized as postpartum bonding disorder, which leads to serious health problems in perinatal health care. However, its measurement still remains to be standardized. Our aim was to examine and confirm the psychometric properties of the Postnatal Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) in Japanese mothers. We distributed a set of questionnaires to community mothers and studied 392 mothers who returned the questionnaires at 1 month after childbirth. Our model was compared with three other models derived from previous studies. In a randomly halved sample, an exploratory factor analysis yielded a three-factor structure: Anger and Restrictedness, Lack of Affection, and Rejection and Fear. This factor structure was cross-validated by a confirmatory factor analysis using the other halved sample. The three subscales showed satisfactory internal consistency. The three PBQ subscale scores were correlated with depression and psychological abuse scores. Their test–retest reliability between day 5 and 1 month after childbirth was measured by intraclass correlation coefficients between 0.76 and 0.83. The Akaike Information Criteria of our model was better than the original four-factor model of Brockington. The present study indicates that the PBQ is a reliable and valid measure of bonding difficulties of Japanese mothers with neonates.