The Impact of Postnatal Depression and Associated Adversity on Early Mother-Infant Interactions and Later Infant Outcome

Abstract

The impact of maternal depression and adversity on mother-infant face-to-face interactions at 2 months, and on subsequent infant cognitive development and attachment, was examined in a low-risk sample of primiparous women and their infants. The severe disturbances in mother-infant engagement characteristic of depressed groups in disadvantaged populations were not evident in the context of postpartum mood disorder in the present study. However, compared to well women, depressed mothers were less sensitively attuned to their infants, and were less affirming and more negating of infant experience. Similar difficulties in maternal interactions were also evident in the context of social and personal adversity. Disturbances in early mother-infant interactions were found to be predictive of poorer infant cognitive outcome at 18 months. Infant attachment, by contrast, was not related to the quality of 2-month interactions, but was significantly associated with the occurrence of adversity, as well as postpartum depression.

Cognitive biases in processing infant emotion by women with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder in pregnancy or after birth: A systematic review

“…The results can inform our understanding of the poor sensitivity displayed by mothers with postnatal mental health difficulties (Carter et al, 2001;Davies et al, 2008;Murray et al, 1996). For example, maternal sensitivity is dependent on a mother's ability to perceive and respond appropriately to her infant's emotional displays (Eisenberg et al, 1998;Shin, Park, Ryu, & Seomun, 2008;van Doesum et al, 2007).…”

“…For example, Murray, Fiori-Cowley, Hooper, and Cooper (1996) investigated motherinfant interactions in women with and without depression, and found that mothers with depression were more likely to respond in a rejecting or an emotionally discordant way to their infant. Mothers with co-morbid anxiety and depression are more likely to have an infant with an insecure attachment (Carter, Garrity-Rokous, Chazan-Cohen, Little, & Briggs-Gowan, 2001).…”

“…Therefore, it could be speculated that women with antenatal and postnatal psychological problems may have difficulty interpreting their infant's emotion because of mood-related cognitive biases, leading them to be less sensitive to their infant's needs. If a mother does experience difficulty in interpreting her infant's emotions, a secure attachment may be threatened (Cassidy, 1994), and could lead to negative consequences, such as poor developmental outcomes (Carter et al, 2001;Glasheen, Richardson, & Fabio, 2010;Murray et al, 1996;Parfitt, Pike, & Ayers, 2014).…”

Postpartum Depression: Perceptions of a Diverse Sample of Low-Income Women

“…Previous research indicates that maternal depression is associated with parenting problems and unresponsive care giving (Logsdon, Wisner, & Pinto-Foltz, 2006;McLearn et al, 2006). Other studies suggest that the children of pregnant women who are depressed may also experience insecure maternal attachments (Logsdon et al, 2006;Murray, Fiori-Cowley, Hooper, & Cooper, 1996) and more violent behaviors and aggressiveness (Hay, Pawlby, Angold, Harold, & Sharp, 2003;Kent, Laidlaw, & Brockington, 1997).…”

Emotional Rejection of the Infant: Status of the Concept

“…There is a similar dearth of sound research into the effects of emotional rejection on the children, but there are indications that it predicts a poor infant-mother relationship [108,185,186,187,188,189,190,191,192], cognitive delay [66,157,193], disturbed child behaviour [158,181,194] (possibly, later, violent crime [195,196]), and child maltreatment [73]. There are no recent studies on these effects.…”