Implications of Timing of Maternal Depressive Symptoms for Early Cognitive and Language Development

Abstract

: Statistically, women, particularly pregnant women and new mothers, are at heightened risk for depression. The present review describes the current state of the research linking maternal depressed mood and children's cognitive and language development. Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms, whether during the prenatal period, postpartum period, or chronically, has been found to increase children's risk for later cognitive and language difficulties. The present review considers both the timing of maternal depression and the chronicity of mothers' depression on children's risk for cognitive and language delays. Infancy is frequently identified as a sensitive period in which environmental stimulation has the potential to substantially influence children's cognitive and language development. However, children's exposure to chronic maternal depression seems to be associated with more problematic outcomes for children, perhaps because depression interferes with mothers' ability to respond sensitively and consistently over time. Consistent with this expectation, interventions targeting parenting practices of depressed mothers have been found to increase children's cognitive competence during early childhood. The current review provides a synthesis of the current state of the field regarding the association between maternal depression and children's cognitive and language development during early childhood.

Prenatal exposure to antidepressants and depressed maternal mood alter trajectory of infant speech perception

“…Because SRIs readily cross the placenta and the blood-brain barrier (19), concerns have been raised about the developmental consequences of altered fetal 5-HT signaling (12,20) or other downstream consequences (21) following prenatal SRI exposure. Importantly, antenatal maternal mood disturbances also have adverse consequences on later cognitive and language development (22)(23)(24) and affect early 5-HT levels (25), leading to confusion about how to distinguish the developmental impact of SRIs from antenatal maternal mood disturbances.…”

Using positron emission tomography to investigate hormone-mediated neurochemical changes across the female lifespan: implications for depression

“…Beyond that, symptom severity and duration are higher in women, as well as rates of associated weight gain, anxiety, and physical manifestations of the disease (Angst & Dobler-Mikola, 1984;Frank, Carpenter, & Kupfer, 1988;Kornstein et al, 2000;Young, Scheftner, Fawcett, & Klerman, 1990). While differences are demonstrated across all age groups, the gap in depression risk between the sexes is widest during the reproductive years (Soares & Zitek, 2008).…”

“…The prevalence of depression in women is most prominent during the reproductive years (Soares & Zitek, 2008), and especially during times such as post-partum (Mehta et al, 2014;O'hara, Stuart, Gorman, & Wenzel, 2000;Sohr-Preston & Scaramella, 2006) and perimenopause (Freeman, Sammel, Boorman, & Zhang, 2014;Freeman, Sammel, Lin, & Nelson, 2006;Rekkas et al, 2014), which are periods defined by extreme fluctuations in ovarian hormones. This evidence strongly suggests that hormone changes across the individual mean, especially dramatic decreases in oestrogen, may be a risk factor for depression.…”

Why should we screen for perinatal depression? Ten reasons to do it

“…It is consensual that PPD predicts poorer language and IQ development in children and that this effect is found across childhood and adolescence [28,[37][38][39].…”