Pregnancy and the time after birth are considered by most to be a time of joyoustransition and change for a woman and her partner. However, it also represents a time ofsignificant increases in the risk of mental health issues, most notably anxiety and depression(Austin et al.

, 2017). The presence of anxiety and depression have ramifications, not only forthe mother, but also impact on her ability to bond with her baby, an important precursor toadaptive functioning across the lifespan (Englund et al.

, 2011). This thesis investigates wellknownvariables that have been independently identified as predictive of psychological distressoutside of the perinatal period (Pepping et al.

, 2013; Pepping et al. , 2014), and, to a lesserextent, in perinatal populations, namely dispositional mindful awareness, adult attachmentstyle, and emotion regulation.

Chapter 1 reviews the literature relating to perinatal mentalhealth, specifically anxiety and depression, and the deleterious role of psychological distresson mother-infant bonding from an attachment theory perspective. Chapter 2 details themeasures utilized in the empirical studies of this thesis.

Chapter 3 provides a "proof of concept"and examines the relationship between mindful awareness, attachment style, and emotionregulation in psychological distress in a sample of undergraduate university students. Itidentifies attachment anxiety and emotion dysregulation as mediators of the relationshipbetween mindful awareness and psychological distress.

Chapter 4 utilizes a cross-sectionaldesign to investigate the relationship between mindful awareness, attachment style, andemotion regulation with prenatal depression, anxiety, and pregnancy-specific anxiety. Thefindings suggest that attachment anxiety, emotion regulation and mindful awareness playimportant roles in prenatal depression and anxiety, and to a lesser extent pregnancy-specificanxiety, indicating that other factors may be more important in the development of pregnancyspecificanxiety.

Chapter 5 more closely examines the relationship between mindful awarenessand emotion regulation in a prospective perinatal sample, identifying a likely bidirectional. .