Maternal depression and its impact in children

Abstract

To determine the impact of maternal depression in children.The study sample included 24 depressed women and 14 control mothers who each had a 3 – 5 y.o. child. The subjects had been selected on the basis of a screening health questionnaire and a follow-up interview. Mothers and children were observed in their homes for 2 hours on 2 occasions within a month. Child disorders were assessed at these visits and scored according to the number of areas in which children showed dysfunction in eating, sleeping, and relationships with peers. All mothers were re interviewed and revisited 6 months later.Results:There were children with emotional and behavioural problems in the depressed group than in the control group. Children of depressed mothers commonly had eating difficulties, problems in relationships with peers or parents, and poor attention with over activity. However, there was no difference in sleep problems, mood disturbances, general intellectual levels, or language comprehension between children from the study group and the control group.At the 6 month follow-up, 14 depressed mothers had recovered, whereas 10 were still depressed. Children of recovered mothers were somewhat less disturbed than those whose mothers were still depressed but more disturbed than children of non depressed mothers.Depressed mothers appeared to be less responsive to their children than nondepressed mothers. Children of depressed mothers were more often distressed than children of nondepressed mothers.There was a wide variation in the quality of mother – child interaction within the depressed group.