Pownall, M. orcid.org/0000-0002-3734-8006, Hutter, R.R.C. orcid.org/0000-0001-7622-2273, Rockliffe, L. orcid.org/0000-0001-9546-8690 et al. (1 more author) (2023) Memory and mood changes in pregnancy: a qualitative content analysis of women’s first-hand accounts. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 41 (5). pp. 516-527. ISSN 0264-6838
Abstract
Objective: This qualitative study aimed to explore how pregnant women and new mothers self-report changes to their mood and memory during pregnancy.
Background: Researchers have investigated the various changes that women report throughout their pregnancy. Despite this evidence base, there is a notable lack of studies that take a qualitative approach to understanding how pregnant women and women in the postpartum period experience memory and mood changes through their pregnancy.
Method: The present study involved a qualitative content analysis of women’s first-hand accounts. Of the 423 participants who responded, 118 participants provided textual responses to questions about their memory and 288 participants provided textual responses to questions about their mood. Data were collected online via a free-text survey and analysed using both deductive inductive open coding.
Results: A qualitative content analysis generated four overall categories: two typologies of self-reported memory changes in pregnancy (‘short-term memory lapses’ and ‘chronic memory fog’) and two typologies of self-reported mood changes (‘mood instability and constant change’ and ‘low mood and parenting anxiety’).
Conclusion: These typologies represent unique profiles of the memory and mood changes that women experience during pregnancy and serve to accompany and expand the quantitative literature, which documents the changes women experience during pregnancy.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. |
Keywords: | Pregnancy; baby brain; maternal mental health; memory changes |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Psychology (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Nov 2023 10:59 |
Last Modified: | 13 Nov 2023 10:59 |
Published Version: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02646... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/02646838.2022.2052827 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:205196 |
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Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0