The impact of severe mental disorders on mother-infant interaction: a systematic review

PurposeMother-Infant Interaction (MII) is the first dynamic relationship that focuses on both mother-infant involvement and dyadic coordination and is associated with infant development. The main objective of this review is to summarize the evidence on the quality of MII in mothers with Severe Mental Illness (SMI).MethodA systematic search for cross sectional, cohort or case control studies has been carried out in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus to extract studies addressing the relationship between the quality of MII and SMI.ResultsA total of 15 studies with a sample of 992 women were included. Studies showed worst outcomes for MII in mothers with psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder. The impairments were more pronounced in psychotic disorders.ConclusionsThere is evidence of impaired MII in SMI. Social cognition (SC) is essential for understanding and responding to infant cues, so it could partially explain the associations between SMI and interaction outcomes. The current evidence is limited due to substantial heterogeneity and methodological limitations in the studies. Therefore, such findings should be interpreted with caution. The co-ocurrence of SMI in the perinatal period presents specific health problems for both mother and child, requiring specialized healthcare. Impairments in MII are more pronounced in psychotic disorders, but there is also an alteration in bipolar disorder. A deeper comprehension of the subject matter would clear the way for the implementation of targeted interventions.