Chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms: Relationships with child outcomes at age 5.

Abstract

The relationships between severity, chronicity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child outcomes were examined in a cohort of 4,953 children. Mothers provided selfreports of depressive symptoms during pregnancy, immediately postpartum, and when the child was 6 months old and 5 years old. At the age 5 follow-up, mothers reported on children's behavior and children completed a receptive vocabulary test. Results suggest that both the severity and the chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms are related to more behavior problems and lower vocabulary scores in children. The interaction of severity and chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms was significantly related to higher levels of child behavior problems. Timing of maternal symptoms was not significantly related to child vocabulary scores, but more recent reports of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher rates of child behavior problems.Many studies have documented the association between maternal depression and adverse outcomes in children. Studies with clinical samples of depressed parents, focused primarily on mothers, have shown elevated rates of depression in children as well as anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders (reviewed in Downey & Coyne, 1990;Hammen, 1999). Studies with community samples of women with self-reported symptoms of depression have also shown adverse outcomes in children. These latter studies included infants, toddlers, and children of varying ages, and virtually all measures of the children's affect and behaviors showed evidence of maladaptive reactions to their mothers' dysphoria (reviewed in Downey & Coyne;Gelfand & Teti, 1990).The consistency of detrimental effects across numerous samples and methodologies has doubtless suggested that maternal depressive symptoms invariably have a negative impact on children's behavior. However, most of the studies have been cross-sectional in design, and they provide little information about the nature of maternal depression and how often it leads to problems for children. Depression is extremely heterogeneous in its manifestations, ranging from mild and transitory mood distress that is entirely normal to persisting and severe

Sex differences in the associations between vagal reactivity and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms

“…Previous studies have shown that younger maternal age (Fergusson & Woodward, 1999; Harden et al., 2007), socioeconomic status (Bradley & Corwyn, 2002), and maternal depressive symptoms (Brennan et al., 2000) are associated with emotional and behavioral problems in offspring. We, therefore, employed these measures as covariates in the analyses.…”

Repeated long separations from pups produce depression-like behavior in rat mothers

“…Emotional effects include increased negativity and fearfulness (Pauli-Pott et al, 2004) and behavior problems (Beck, 1999) as well as more insecure attachments (Cicchetti et al, 1998). Cognitive effects on children experiencing maternal depression have been documented across childhood (Brennan et al 2000;Cogill et al, 1986;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network 1999). Physiological consequences for children of depressed mothers include less weight gain in the first 2 yr of life (Hendrick 2003;O'Brien et al, 2004), elevated cortisol and norepinephrine, and lower dopamine levels (Diego et al 2004;Halligan et al, 2004).…”

Factors Influencing Female Caregivers' Appraisals of Their Preschoolers' Behaviors

“…Brennan et al (2000) in a large cohort study of nearly 5000 five-year-old children, found that both the severity and the length of the mothers" depressive symptoms were related to more behavioral problems and lower vocabulary scores in five year old children (Brennan et al, 2000). Caregivers with current depressive symptoms and histories of chronic depression displayed fewer positive behaviors toward their preschool children (Cunningham & Boyle, 2002;Foster et al, 2007).…”

“…They found that the mothers with any psychiatric disorder reported more externalizing behaviors in their children while the teachers" reports of externalizing behaviors were unrelated to the mothers" psychiatric history (Chilcoat & Breslau, 1997). Mother"s with a recent episode of depression reported more child behavioral problems in their children (Brennan et al, 2000). It is possible that the mothers" view of their children"s behaviors were biased by their depressive symptoms.…”