Mental disease postpartum: Maternal expectations of and maternal reports of infant temperament

In a longitudinal study 14 mentally ill women were compared with a control sample of 24 somatically ill women. Both samples were admitted to the hospital within 6 months after delivery. Another control sample of 76 healthy women was included in the study. The mother's expectations of and later reports of infant temperament were investigated at different points during the infant's first 15 months of life. Infants in the psychiatric sample were rated as more difficult to manage than the other groups at 10 months. When compared with the expectations of healthy mothers, the expectations of mentally ill mothers and somatically ill mothers were found to be less predictive of their reports of their infants' temperamental behavior.