Investigating the degree of mother-infant attachment among the visitors of Bandar Abbas hospitals Bandar Abbas hospitals

Abstract

Introduction: Attachment theory is one of the most well-known products of contemporary psychology. Infancy is one the most important stages of one’s life. Mother’s attachment to the infant could have a long-lasting influence on the child’s future. Considering this, the present research seeks to focus on mother-child attachment. Material and method: The present research is of a descriptive-analytical type which aims to investigate the degree of mother’s attachment to her infant. The research population was, in fact, all mothers who had an infant and the sampling method was randomized clustering. The instrument utilized in this study was Simon’s mother-child attachment questionnaire. Subsequent analyses were done through independent t-test, spearman correlation test and ANOVA. The p level was set at 0.05.Results: The mean age of mothers in this study was estimated to be 27.18±5.76. The mean attachment score was 156.96±13.75. The highest attachment score belonged to the supportive sub-scale (41.78±6.29). According to the findings, a significant correlation was found between: mother-infant attachment and the place of residence (p<0.001), family income and attachment (p<0.001), mother’s age and attachment (p<0.001). Conclusion: A significant correlation exists between mother-child attachment and income, mother’s age and educational level. Such correlations need to be taken into account in planning for mothers’ mental health and instructional courses which aim to improve mothers’ attachment to their infant.

Keywords

• attachment
• maternal
• infant
• bandar abbas