Maternal depression impairs child emotion understanding and executive functions: The role of dysregulated maternal care across the first decade of life.

Abstract

The long-term negative effects of maternal depression on child outcome are thought to be mediated in part by deficits in caregiving; yet, few studies utilized longitudinal cohorts and repeated observations to specify these links. We tested the impact of deficits in maternal regulatory caregiving across the first decade of life on children’s emotional, social, and cognitive outcomes at 10 years. A community birth cohort was repeatedly assessed for maternal depression across the first year and again at 6 and 10 years. At 9 months, 6 years, and 10 years patterns of regulatory caregiving were assessed during mother-child interactions; at 6 and 10 years children underwent psychiatric diagnosis; and at 10 years children’s emotion recognition (ERc), executive functions (EF), and social collaboration (SC) were evaluated. Depressed mothers displayed deficits to regulatory caregiving across development and their children exhibited more psychiatric disorders, lower SC, and impaired ERc. Structural equation modeling demonstrated both direct paths from dysregulated caregiving at 6 and 10 years to impaired child EF and ERc and mediated paths via child psychiatric disorder on all 3 outcomes. Effects of 9-month caregiving were only indirect, via child disorder, differentiating infants on risk versus resilient trajectories. Patterns of maternal caregiving were individually stable over time. Our findings demonstrate disruptions to core regulation-based abilities in children of depressed mothers beyond infancy, contribute to discussion on risk and resilience in the context of a distinct early life stress condition, and underscore late childhood as a period of specific vulnerabilities that should become a focus of targeted interventions.

Protocol for the Adaptation of a Direct Observational Measure of Parent-Child Interaction for Use With 7–8-Year-Old Children

“…Thus, we anticipated that sensitive responding and positive mutuality would be positively associated with similar parent-reported constructs: warmth, consistency, self-efficacy and home activities with child. We predicted that sensitive responding and positive mutuality would be negatively correlated with parenting irritability and parent psychological distress, in-line with evidence that parents' psychological state can impede parent-child interactions (Priel et al, 2019).…”

What Do We Know About the Preterm Behavioral Phenotype? A Narrative Review

“…While the sample for this study was not limited to preterm children, more pronounced effects of maternal mental health on behavior may be found in this high-risk population. In support of this possibility, maternal depression has been associated with higher psychiatric problems in preschool and school-age preterm children (40,59), with lower levels of depression enhancing childhood resilience against psychiatric and neurodevelopmental problems (37). The primary mechanisms of the preterm birth experience and the resultant maternal mental health can both negatively impact parenting behavior and mother-child relationships (60,61), which may further contribute to the unparalleled psychiatric profile of preterm children.…”

“…In addition, the lack of maternal sensitivity within the first year of life is associated with altered hippocampal networks (62), implicating potential effects on infant bonding and attachment (60,63). These disruptions to secure mother-infant relationships pose risks for later childhood psychopathology (59), including internalizing and externalizing behaviors (64). The unique risks of preterm birth for altered brain development, problems in maternal mental health, and parenting behaviors may help explain the exclusive and specific comorbidities of psychopathology observed in this high-risk population.…”

Correlations Between Family History of Psychiatric Illnesses and Outcomes of Spinal Cord Stimulation

“…Unfortunately, patients often are not treated prior to displaying psychological illness themselves. This can have detrimental effects as children with caregivers (including parents) with depressive symptoms are less resilient , and children of depressed mothers specifically show impaired emotional recognition . Given the body of research demonstrating the effects of PFH, even on persons deemed to be “healthy,” the World Health Organization (WHO) sanctioned programs in their 2013–2020 recommendations programs to the wellbeing of children with a parent suffering from mental illness, even “healthy” children .…”