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Social isolation and postnatal bonding disorder in Japan: the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study

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Abstract

Although there is substantial information about the effects of social relationships on mental health, their effects on postnatal bonding remain unclear. We aimed to examine the association between social isolation and postnatal bonding disorder. We analyzed data from 17,999 women who participated in the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. An abbreviated version of the Lubben Social Network Scale was used to assess social isolation in the second trimester of pregnancy, and its subscales were used to assess marginal family ties and marginal friendship ties. Bonding disorder was defined as a Mother-to-Infant Bonding Scale score of ≥ 5 1 month after delivery. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association between social isolation and postnatal bonding disorder after adjusting for age at delivery, parity, feelings towards pregnancy, psychological distress during pregnancy, and household income. Analyses stratified by postnatal depressive symptoms (PDS) were also conducted. Social isolation was associated with postnatal bonding disorder: the odds ratio (OR) was 1.55 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41–1.71). Marginal family ties and friendship ties were associated with postnatal bonding disorder: the ORs were 1.40 (95% CI, 1.23–1.60) and 1.44 (95% CI, 1.32–1.57), respectively. Marginal family ties were associated with postnatal bonding disorder only among women without PDS: the ORs were 1.30 (95% CI, 1.10–1.55) among women without PDS and 1.13 (95% CI, 0.91–1.40) among women with PDS. Social isolation during pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of postnatal bonding disorder.

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Data availability

A biobank is being constructed based on the TMM BirThree Cohort Study. The full baseline data have been distributed to researchers who have been approved by the Sample and Data Access Committee of the Biobank since 2017.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to express their appreciation to the pregnant women who participated in the TMM BirThree Cohort Study and the staff members of the Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization. The full list of members is available at https://www.megabank.tohoku.ac.jp/english/a210901/.

Funding

The TMM BirThree Cohort Study was supported by the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), Japan [grant number, JP17km0105001, JP21tm0124005]. This study was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists [grant number, 18K17397] and a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C) [grant number, 21K10490] from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Tohoku Medical Megabank Organization, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8573, Japan

    Keiko Murakami, Mami Ishikuro, Taku Obara, Fumihiko Ueno, Aoi Noda, Tomomi Onuma, Fumiko Matsuzaki, Noriyuki Iwama, Hirohito Metoki, Masahiro Kikuya, Junichi Sugawara, Hiroaki Tomita, Nobuo Yaegashi & Shinichi Kuriyama

  2. Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8575, Japan

    Keiko Murakami, Mami Ishikuro, Taku Obara, Fumihiko Ueno, Aoi Noda, Fumiko Matsuzaki, Saya Kikuchi, Natsuko Kobayashi, Hirotaka Hamada, Noriyuki Iwama, Masatoshi Saito, Junichi Sugawara, Hiroaki Tomita, Nobuo Yaegashi & Shinichi Kuriyama

  3. Tohoku University Hospital, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8574, Japan

    Taku Obara, Aoi Noda, Saya Kikuchi, Natsuko Kobayashi, Hirotaka Hamada, Noriyuki Iwama, Masatoshi Saito, Junichi Sugawara, Hiroaki Tomita & Nobuo Yaegashi

  4. Faculty of Medicine, Tohoku Medical and Pharmaceutical University, 1-15-1 Fukumuro, Miyagino-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 983-8536, Japan

    Hirohito Metoki

  5. Teikyo University School of Medicine, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8605, Japan

    Masahiro Kikuya

  6. International Research Institute of Disaster Science, Tohoku University, 2-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi, 980-8573, Japan

    Hiroaki Tomita & Shinichi Kuriyama

Authors
  1. Keiko Murakami
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  2. Mami Ishikuro
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  3. Taku Obara
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  4. Fumihiko Ueno
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  8. Saya Kikuchi
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  15. Junichi Sugawara
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  16. Hiroaki Tomita
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  17. Nobuo Yaegashi
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  18. Shinichi Kuriyama
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Contributions

KM was responsible for the study conception, design, analysis, interpretation of the data, and the drafting of the manuscript. MI, T. Obara, FU, AN, T. Onuma, FM, NI, HM, JS, and NY contributed to data collection and interpretation of the data. S. Kikuchi., NK, HH, HT, and MS contributed to interpretation of the data. S. Kuriyama contributed to data collection, provided advice regarding critically important intellectual content and helped to draft the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Keiko Murakami.

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Murakami, K., Ishikuro, M., Obara, T. et al. Social isolation and postnatal bonding disorder in Japan: the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Arch Womens Ment Health 25, 1079–1086 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00737-022-01266-0

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