The relationship between dietary elimination and maternal psychopathology in breastfeeding mothers of infants with food allergy

Abstract

Background: There has been no study evaluating the psychopathology in breastfeeding mothers of infants with food allergy (FA). Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between dietary elimination and maternal psychopathology, specifically anxiety, depression, and mother-to-infant bonding, in breastfeeding mothers of infants with food allergy. Methods: Breastfeeding mothers following an elimination diet due to FA in their children aged 1-to-12 months were compared with the healthy controls. The physician-diagnosed FA group was divided into IgE-, non-IgE-mediated, and infants with some minor symptoms which were not enough to make the diagnosis of FA were classified as Indecisive symptoms for FA group. Mothers completed standardized questionnaires including Symptom Checklist 90R, Beck Depression/Anxiety Inventories (BDI/BAI), Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (Bonding). Results: Of 179 mother and infants, 64 were healthy, 89 were FA, 16 were indecisive symptoms for FA. The mean age of the mothers and infants were 31.1 ± 4.7 years and 6.3 ± 3.6 months, respectively. The physician-diagnosed FA groups had higher scores for anxiety (p = .008), anger (p = .042), depression (p < .001), obsession (p = .002), phobia (p = .008), somatization (p = .002), general symptom index (GSI) (p = .001), BDI (p < .001), BAI (p = .008), and Bonding (attachment [p = .001], anger [p = .019], and total [p = .036]) than the healthy ones. The indecisive symptoms for FA group had a similar score pattern to physician-diagnosed FA, except interpersonal sensitivity, BDI, and attachment. Conclusion: Breastfeeding mothers of infants with FA were more anxious, with higher depression scores than controls, and had many psychopathologies which affected bonding. Interventions targeting negativity in caregivers' social relationships are urgently needed.