ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the status and correlation of 6 weeks postpartum self-compassion, alexithymia and postpartum depression in preterm mothers separated from their infants.Methods:Convenience sampling method was used to select 300 premature mothers separated from their infants in Binzhou Medical University Hospital as the research objects. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by the general data, the Chinese version of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS-C), the Chinese version of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS).Results:The total scores of SCS-C, TAS-20 and EPDS at 6 weeks postpartum were (19.94 ± 2.64), (48.74 ± 3.87) and (10.61 ± 3.07) respectively. The self-compassion ability was negatively correlated with alexithymia and postpartum depression ( r = -0.365, -0.313, both P<0.01), alexithymia was positively correlated with postpartum depression ( r = 0.657, P<0.01). Alexithymia played a partial mediating role in the relationship between self-compassion and postpartum depression, accounting for 72.83% of the total effect. Conclusions:Self-compassion and alexithymia are both important factors affecting postpartum depression in premature mothers separated from their infants. By enhancing emotional cognition and processing ability of premature mothers, self-compassion ability can be improved to reduce the incidence of postpartum depression.