The influence of sociodemographic context on parent/baby bonding

• Main Authors: Carla Cruz, Paula Nelas, Emília Coutinho, Cláudia Chaves, Odete Amaral
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Published: Asociación Nacional de Psicología Evolutiva y Educativa de la Infancia Adolescencia Mayores y Discapacidad 2017-11-01
• Series: INFAD
• Subjects: pai; bebé; bonding; gravidez
• Online Access: http://www.infad.eu/RevistaINFAD/OJS/index.php/IJODAEP/article/view/1019

Background: The bonding process is essential to favors and/or determines the future relationship between parent and baby and influences the cognitive and social development of the child. The bonding is conditioned by a set of interrelated factors with parental and situational conditions that may assist or prevent the establishment of bonding (Pereira, 2009). Objective: Establish the relationship between the sociodemographic context (age, marital status, educational qualifications and length of relationship) and bonding parent/baby. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study, correlational descriptive, quantitative, attended by 349 parents, aged between 19 and 55, with an average age of 31,84 (sd=6,067). To providing a reliable sample characterization the social-demographic we applied questionnaires and Bonding Scale (Figueiredo et al., 2005). Results: This study reveals that positive bonding is influenced by age (p=0,010), being higher in parents aged 30 years or less. With regard to qualifications, it was found that the smaller the educational level of the parents, the greater the bonding positive (p=0,045). On the other hand the marital status and the length of the relationship did not influence the bonding. Conclusion: Given the importance of the bonding process between parent and baby, whose involvement should exist from the beginning of pregnancy, it’s imperative that the Nurse Specialist in maternal health take responsibility to educate and stimulate the paternal bonding supporting and integrating the father in the process of adaptation to parenthood.