The relationship between depression and coping insight dimensions in the transition to motherhood

The transition to motherhood is a period of psychological vulnerability but also offers important opportunities to refine and strengthen resilience capacities that support long-term mental health. The Systematic Self-Reflection Model of Resilience Strengthening proposes dynamic, reciprocal relationships between self-reflection, coping insight, and capacities for resilience, but this model has not been tested during the transition to motherhood. We aimed to clarify: (i) how self-reflection and coping insight change across this life transition, and (ii) to examine the relationships among self-reflection, coping insight, and depressive symptoms in first-time mothers. It explored their bidirectional and indirect interactions, with a focus on how these processes contribute to resilience and mental health. First-time pregnant women in Australia (N = 147) completed longitudinal surveys across three time points (two prenatal, one postnatal). Multi-level modeling assessed changes in self-reflection, coping insight, and depressive symptoms over time, and tested mediating relationships at both within- and between-person levels. Cross-lagged panel models evaluated the directionality and reciprocity of these associations. Findings showed that coping insight consistently predicted lower depressive symptoms across multiple models. However, the pathway from self-reflection to insight was less stable, suggesting that reflection alone may not reliably foster adaptive insight. Conversely, depressive symptoms more consistently influenced later self-reflection indirectly via reduced insight, indicating that depression may undermine cognitive processes that support resilience. These findings provide novel evidence of how self-reflection, coping insight, and depression interact during the transition to motherhood, highlighting the importance of targeting coping insight in perinatal interventions to strengthen resilience and protect maternal mental health.