1898 Maternal Attachment in Mothers of Under-25 and Over-35 age groups who Have Babies of 1-4 Months Old with Colic Diagnosis

Abstract

Background and Aims Maternal attachment (MA) is important in terms of mother-infant relationship. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that affect MA in mothers of under- 25 and over-35 age groups with infants of 1-4 months old with colic diagnosis. Method The study was carried out in a family health center in Trabzon between 15 December 2010 and 15 February 2012. 47 mothers from under-25 age group and 49 mothers from over-35 age group consented to participate in the study. The study employed a socio-demographic data collection form and a Maternal Attachment Inventory (MAI). Numbers, percentages, means, standard deviations, student t-test, Fisher Exact chi-square, one-way ANOVA and correlation were used in the statistical analyses. Results The mean MA of mothers in the under-25 age group was found to be 95.76±6.73, while in the over-35 age group it was found to be 92.47±8.33. There is no statistically significant difference between the means of the MAIs of both groups (t=1.942 p=0.36). In both groups, the study found a statistically significant difference (p>0.05) between the means of the MAIs and the factors of receiving prenatal education (t=-0.141 p=0.01; t=0.404 p=0.01), mothers' education (F=0.622 p=0.02; F=0.108 p=0.03), planned pregnancy (t=2.617 p=0.01; t=-0.850 p=0.04), and keeping the baby in the mother's room after birth (t=-1.201 p=0.02; t=-0.703 p=0.03) (respectively). Conclusions Except for the factors of duration of breast-feeding and working, the MA factors are similar in mothers of different age groups.