Association of Infertility Treatment with Perception of Infant Crying, Bonding Impairment and Abusive Behavior towards One's Infant: A Propensity-Score Matched Analysis.

Background: Although previous qualitative studies suggested the link between infertility treatment and negative emotions towards infants, few empirical population-based studies have investigated the association of infertility treatment with the perception of infant crying, bonding impairment, and abusive behavior towards one's infant.
Methods: Women who participated in a four month health-checkup program in Aichi Prefecture, Japan ( n = 6590) were asked to a complete a questionnaire that included infertility treatment history, perception of infant crying, maternal-infant bonding impairment assessed by the Mother to Infant Bonding Scale Japanese version, and abusive behavior towards one's infant. Outcomes were dichotomized, and a conditional logistic regression was applied, using the propensity score match for infertility treatment exposure adjusted for known covariates.
Results: A total of 690 participants (11.1%) reported infertility treatment history, and 625 cases were matched. We found that mothers with infertility treatment history were 1.36 times more likely to perceive a higher frequency of infant crying (95% confidence interval (CI):1.05-1.78), but no association with maternal-infant bonding impairment (odds ratio (OR): 1.18; 95% CI: 0.81-1.72) and abusive behavior towards the infant (OR: 0.82; 95% CI: 0.49-1.36).
Conclusions: Infertility treatment may be associated with the perception of a higher frequency of infant crying, but it is not associated with bonding impairment and abusive behavior. Further longitudinal study is needed to replicate the findings.