Effects Of Maternal Depression Research Articles

Does prenatal exposure to antidepressants cause autism? - literature review

Autism spectrum disorder is an increasingly diagnosed disorder among children, yet its pathogenesis is still unknown. Possible causes are sought in genetic mutations, cellular processes occurring in the nervous system during development and external factors affecting the fetus during the prenatal period. In recent years, there have been an increasing number of reports linking the occurrence of the spectrum to antidepressant medications, especially from the SSRI group, taken by pregnant women for depressive disorders, which occur in up to a dozen percent of women in this group. The involvement of serotonin in the development of the nervous system during the fetal period is taken as the reason for this phenomenon. To date, no clear consensus has been reached on this issue, and many distractors in the research are highlighted, such as the effect of maternal depression on fetal development, among others. There is no doubt that further research is needed to better assess the risk of ASD associated with SSRI use and dosage during pregnancy

Current maternal depression associated with worsened children's social outcomes during middle childhood: Exploring the role of positive affect socialization

BackgroundMaternal depression negatively predicts aspects of the mother-child relationship and social functioning in offspring. This study evaluated interrelations between mothers' depression history and current severity with dynamic indices of positive affect socialization and indices of offspring' social outcomes. MethodsN = 66 mother-child dyads in which approximately 50 % of mothers had a history of maternal depression were recruited. Children were 6–8 years old and 47.7 % male. Dyads completed a positive interaction task, which was coded for mother and child positive affect. Mothers and children reported on peer functioning and social problems and children reported on the quality of their best friendships at 1-year follow-up. ResultsCurrent level of maternal depression, but not depression history, was related to more social problems and lower best friend relationship quality. Indices of positive affect socialization were not related to history or current levels of maternal depression, or social outcomes, with the exception of maternal depression history predicting greater likelihood of mothers joining their children in expressing positive affect. Exploratory, supplementary analysis revealed that this may be due to treatment history among these mothers. LimitationsConclusions should be tempered by the small sample size, which limited the types of analyses that were conducted. ConclusionResults suggest that the effect of maternal depression on aspects of child social outcomes could be specific to current levels. Our data also did not support previously found associations between maternal depression and positive affect socialization. Results suggest positive implications for the effect of treatment for maternal depression for mother-child dynamics.

Effects of mobile device use on emotional and behavioral problems in the CBCL among preschoolers: Do shared reading and maternal depression matter?

Although mobile devices are used ubiquitously, studies on their detrimental effects on preschoolers are limited. Furthermore, no study has considered shared reading and mobile device usage simultaneously. Therefore, this study examined the effects of mobile devices and shared reading on preschoolers' development along with the effects of maternal depression on this association. Mothers of 202 children aged 2-5 years were recruited in Taiwan. Maternal self-reported questionnaires on mobile device usage, shared reading, and child's emotional and behavioral development were collected. Multiple linear regression models were used for analyses. Mothers' higher usage time on mobile devices and an education level of college or less were significantly associated with the child's exceeding recommended use of mobile devices. Particularly among depressed mothers, preschoolers' exceeding recommended use of mobile devices was associated with more sleep (β = 9.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.34, 18.40) and attention (β = 7.20, 95% CI = 1.50, 12.91) problems, whereas shared reading was associated with less somatic complaints (β = -16.19, 95% CI = -32.22, -0.15) and withdrawn (β = -21.50, 95% CI = -40.52, -2.47), compared with their respective counterparts. Our study suggested the beneficial effects of shared reading. Moreover, we highlighted the adverse effects of preschoolers' exceeding recommended use of mobile device on sleep and attention problems, especially for children of mothers with depression.

Parental burnout, depression and emotional development of the preschoolers.

Parental burnout is becoming more and more prevalent in the world, mainly incultures with high demands towards parents. Parental burnout is distinctive from depression and might have its unique influence on child development, which isunder current international research. This work contributes to the understanding of parental burnout, maternal depression and child emotional development(specifically emotion comprehension) interrelations. Additionally, we explored whether there are differences in the effects of parental burnout and depressionon boys and girls. To analyse the emotional development of the preschoolers, the Russian version of the Test of Emotional Comprehension (TEC) was used. We used the Russian version of the Parental Burnout Inventory (PBI) to analyse the level of PB and the Russian version of Beck depression Inventory (BDI) to assess participants' depression level. Parental burnout positively correlates with child emotional comprehension skills, specifically understanding of external causes (B = 0.20, CI: 0.03; 0.37) and mental causes of emotions (B = 0.22, CI: 0.05; 0.40). This effect is gender dependent and is significantlyhigher for girls (B = 0.54, CI: 0.09; 0.98). The effect of maternal depression on emotion comprehension skills is also gender dependent: total scores on emotioncomprehension tasks are significantly higher for daughters of mothers with depression (B = 0.59, CI: 0.001; 1.18). Maternal depression and parental burnout might provoke development of extra sensitivity and self-regulation strategies in girls.

Intergenerational Transmission of Depression: Examining the Roles of Racism and Trauma Among Black Mothers and Youth

Racism is a multifaceted system of oppression that disproportionately harms Black mothers and children across the lifespan. Despite reliable evidence that racism is associated with worse mental health outcomes (eg, increased depressive symptoms), less is known about potential intergenerational effects of Black mothers' experiences of racism on children's mental health, as well as how traumatic experiences influence these pathways. In this cross-sectional quantitative study, we aimed (1) to replicate the finding that maternal experiences of racism are associated with both maternal and child depression; (2) to identify whether maternal experiences of racism are indirectly associated with child depression via the effect of maternal depression; and (3) to test whether the indirect effect of racism on child depression via maternal depression is conditioned on maternal trauma. Black mothers and their children (N= 148 dyads) were recruited from an urban hospital and were interviewed about their experiences of racism, trauma, and mental health symptoms. The mothers' average age was 35.16 years (SD= 8.75) and the children's average age was 10.03 years (SD= 1.51). First, we found that maternal experiences of racism were associated with more severe maternal depression (r= 0.37, p< .01) as well as more severe child depression (r= 0.19, p= .02). Second, we found that maternal experiences of racism were indirectly associated with child depression through the effect of maternal depression (ab= 0.76, 95% CI= 0.26, 1.37). Third, we found that maternal trauma exposure moderated this indirect effect such that, at relatively lower levels of maternal trauma exposure, the indirect effect of maternal experiences of racism on child depression was nonsignificant (ωlow=-0.05, 95% CI=-0.50, 0.45), whereas at relatively higher levels of maternal trauma exposure, the indirect effect of maternal experiences of racism on child depression was statistically significant (ωhigh= .65, 95% CI= 0.21, 1.15). These findings suggest that the indirect effect of maternal experiences of racism on child depression through the effect of maternal depression depends on the degree of maternal trauma exposure. This study advances the literature by shedding light on key processes that can explain the intergenerational effects of racism as well as contextual factors that can exacerbate racism's downstream consequences across generations.

Effects of maternal depression on maternal responsiveness and infants' expressive language abilities.

High levels of maternal responsiveness are associated with healthy cognitive and emotional development in infants. However, depression and anxiety can negatively impact individual mothers' responsiveness levels and infants' expressive language abilities. Australian mother-infant dyads (N = 48) participated in a longitudinal study examining the effect of maternal responsiveness (when infants were 9- and 12-months), and maternal depression and anxiety symptoms on infant vocabulary size at 18-months. Global maternal responsiveness ratings were stronger predictors of infants' vocabulary size than levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. However, depression levels moderated the effect of maternal responsiveness on vocabulary size. These results highlight the importance of screening for maternal responsiveness-in addition to depression-to identify infants who may be at developmental risk. Also, mothers with elevated depression need support to first reduce their symptoms so that improvements in their responsiveness have the potential to be protective for their infant's language acquisition.

The effects of maternal prenatal depression on child mental health: The moderating role of maternal childhood trauma

BackgroundThere is a large body of evidence suggesting that maternal prenatal depression significantly predicts mental health problems in children. However, little is known about the role of maternal childhood trauma within this effect. MethodsThe current study utilized a sample of 187 mother-child dyads (51.3 % boys) from the Shanghai Sleep Birth Cohort (SSBC), a six-year prospective longitudinal study. The effects of maternal depression at late pregnancy (Center for Epidemiological Survey-Depression Scale) on the child mental health at six years old (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire) were analyzed, with different types of maternal childhood trauma (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire) being examined as moderators. ResultsThe results showed that maternal prenatal depression positively predicted child mental health problems (β = 0.13, p < .05) and there was a significant moderating effect of maternal childhood emotional abuse (β = −0.05, p < .05); that is, in mothers with high childhood emotional abuse, child mental health problems remained high regardless of maternal prenatal depression (β = −0.02, p = .78), while in mothers with low childhood emotional abuse, maternal prenatal depression significantly predicted child behavioral and emotional problems (β = 0.20, p < .05). LimitationsRelatively high socio-economic status samples, retrospective reports of maternal childhood trauma and the single reporter were the limitations of this study. ConclusionsThe findings provided new insights into the impact of maternal prenatal depression on child mental health, highlighting the importance of intervention efforts targeting mothers with prenatal depression and childhood trauma history.

Impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACE) on the development of 18-months-old children

• We investigated the impact of ACEs on the global development of 18-month-old children. • The ACEs were obtained along with the first 18 months and in real-time. • ACEs represent maternal mental health, family dysfunction, poverty, and contextual violence. • Maternal depression impacted negatively the development measured by Bayley scales. • Maternal depression effects on child development varied considering the sample characteristics.

The effects of maternal depression on their perception of emotional and behavioral problems of their internationally adopted children

BackgroundEven though child psychopathology assessment guidelines emphasize comprehensive multi-method, multimodal, and multi-informant methodologies, maternal-report symptom-rating scales often serve as the predominant source of information. Research has shown that parental mood symptomatology affects their reports of their offspring’s psychopathology. For example, the depression-distortion hypothesis suggests that maternal depression promotes a negative bias in mothers’ perceptions of their children’s behavioral and emotional problems. We investigated this difference of perception between adoptive mothers and internationally adopted children. Most previous studies suffer from the potential bias caused by the fact that parents and children share genetic risks.MethodsData were derived from the Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) survey study (a subsample of adopted children aged between 9 and 12 years, n = 222). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to assess emotional and behavioral problems and competences of the adopted children. The CBCL was filled in by the adopted children and the adoptive mothers, respectively. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured using the short version of the General Health Questionnaire.ResultsOn average, mothers reported less total CBCL symptoms in their children than the children themselves (0.25 vs 0.38, p-value < 0.01 for difference). Mothers’ depressive symptoms moderated the discrepancy in reporting internalizing symptoms (β = − 0.14 and p-value 0.01 for interaction) and the total symptoms scores (β = − 0.22 and p-value < 0.001 for interaction) and externalizing symptoms in girls in the CBCL.LimitationsThe major limitation of our study is its cross-sectional design and the fact that we only collected data in the form of questionnaires.ConclusionsThe results of our research support the depression-distortion hypothesis concerning the association of maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms in girls in a sample without genetic bias

Major depression and generalised anxiety disorder: An analysis of the effects of remission status and comorbidity on mother-infant emotional availability in the perinatal period.

The effects of maternal depression on mother-infant relationship quality likely vary according to depression heterogeneity. We investigated the effects of different presentations of major depression on mother-infant emotional availability (EA). Data were obtained from 115 mother-infant dyads from a longitudinal pregnancy cohort. Disorders, symptoms, and antidepressant use were assessed in pregnancy and postpartum, and EA was observed 6-month postpartum. Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) were assessed using the Structured Clinical Interview for the DSM-5. A series of multivariate analyses of covariance analyses' examining the effects of disorder on EA were conducted. After controlling for maternal age, antidepressant use, and postpartum depressive symptoms, MDD accounted for 20% of the variance in EA. In the MDD/GAD group, 93% of interactions were rated as emotionally unavailable, nearly threefold the comparison group rate. Findings demonstrate that different presentations of major depression are associated with observed differences in mother-infant EA.

The effect of maternal depression on behavioral problems during early school age: Mediating effect of mother-child interaction and interactive peer play

연구목적: 본 연구는 영아기 자녀의 어머니 우울이 학령초기 아동의 문제행동에 미치는 영향을 종단연구를 통해 살펴보고, 그 경로에서 학령전 모-아 상호작용 및 놀이상호작용의 매개효과를 검증하고자 하였다. 연구방법: 한국아동패널조사의 2009년부터 2014년까지 5년간의 데이터를 사용하여 1,023명을 최종분석하였고, SPSS 21.0과 AMOS 21.0을 통해 구조모형을 검정하였다. 연구결과: 첫째, 영아기 자녀의 어머니 우울은 학령전 모-아 상호작용 및 학령초기 아동의 문제행동에 직접적인 영향을 미쳤지만 학령전 놀이상호작용에는 직접적인 영향을 미치지 않았고 간접적인 영향을 미쳤다. 둘째, 영아기 자녀의 어머니 우울이 학령초기 아동의 문제행동에 미치는 영향에서 학령전 모-아 상호 작용과 놀이상호작용이 이중매개하였다. 결론: 영아기 자녀에게 어머니 우울은 놀이상호작용에 직접적인 영향을 미치지 않고, 모-아 상호작용 및놀이상호작용을 이중매개하여 문제행동에 영향을 주었다. 본 연구의 결과는 아동의 문제행동 예방적 측면 에서 논의되었다.

Cultural Adaptation of Community Informant Tool for Detection of Maternal Depression in Rural Pakistan.

Background: Evidence indicates that mental health issues like depression, epilepsy, and substance misuse can be detected with reasonable accuracy in resource-poor settings. The Community Informant Detection Tool (CIDT) is one such approach used for detecting mental health problems, including depression. We adapted this community informant approach for detecting maternal depression in Pakistan.Methods: Adaptation of Community Informant Detection Tool for Maternal Depression (CIDT-MD) involved five steps. First, a scoping review of the literature was conducted to select an appropriate tool for adaptation. Second, in-depth interviews were conducted to explore the idioms of depression and distress, perceived causes, and the effects of maternal depression among currently depressed and recovered mothers (n = 11), mothers in law (n = 6), and Primary Care Providers (Primary Care Physicians and Lady Health Supervisors) (n = 6). Third, case vignettes and illustrations were created with input from a panel of mental health experts, incorporating the idioms of depression and distress used, causes, and effects for each symptom described. Fourth, to assess the comprehensibility of the illustrations and level of understanding, Focus Group Discussions (n = 4) were done with purposely selected community health workers (Lady Health Workers and Lay Peers, n = 28) trained in delivering maternal depression intervention. The final step was reflection and inputs by a panel of mental health experts on all steps to finalize the content of the tool.Results: Context-specific cultural adaptation in the presentation and format of CIDT-MD was conducted successfully. Lady Health Workers (LHW) and Lay Peers (LP) were found to be the most appropriate persons to use the tool and function as the informants. The adapted tool with all its vignettes and illustrations was found to be easily understandable, comprehensible, and culturally appropriate, meaningful, and contextually relevant by the community health workers and peers working in the relevant settings. They easily relate to and identify potentially depressed such women lining up with the tool. Lastly, the coding of the tool was found easy to follow as well.Conclusion: The Community Informant Detection Tool for Maternal Depression (CIDT-MD) is a culturally acceptable, easy to use, and comprehensible tool for detecting maternal depression in community settings of Pakistan. The community informants found the content and approach highly relevant to the local needs.

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Their Association with Breastfeeding and Child Weight Outcomes.

Children of mothers with depressive symptoms are at a higher risk for psychosocial, behavioral, and developmental problems. However, the effects of maternal depression on children’s physical growth are not well understood. To address the gaps in the literature, this study examined the association between maternal depressive symptoms, breastfeeding behaviors, and child weight outcomes. Data from 204 mother–child dyads who participated in the STRONG Kids 1 Study were used. Mothers and children were assessed twice when the children were 3 and 4 years old. Height and weight measurements of children and mothers were collected by trained researchers during both assessments. Multiple linear regression and analysis of covariance tests were used to examine the associations between maternal depressive symptoms, breastfeeding, and age and sex-adjusted child body mass index percentile. Recurrent maternal depressive symptoms when the child was 3 and 4 years old were not associated with child body mass index percentiles (BMI-P) at age 4. Mothers who breastfed for at least 6 months had significantly lower depressive symptoms when their children were 3 years of age, but the differences did not persist at age 4. In this community sample, maternal depressive symptoms were not associated with child BMI-P, regardless of breastfeeding duration.

Offspring of Mothers With Histories of Chronic and Non-chronic Depression: Symptom Trajectories From Ages 6 to 15.

Several studies have reported that individuals with chronic depression have higher rates of depressive disorders, and particularly chronic depression, in their first-degree relatives, compared to those with non-chronic (episodic) major depression. In addition, a few studies have suggested that offspring of parents with chronic depression have elevated rates of depression and other psychopathology. Most of this work uses the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which defines chronicity as persistence for at least 2 years. An alternative is a life-course, approach, which evaluates overall course since first onset. We examined the trajectories of depressive, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms in a community sample of 577 offspring of mothers with histories of chronic depression, non-chronic (or episodic) major depression, and no depression using prospective, multi-informant assessments from age 6 to age 15. Offspring of mothers with a history of depression exhibited higher levels of depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms than offspring of mothers who were never depressed. Moreover, the effects of maternal depression on offspring depression, anxiety, and externalizing symptoms were more pronounced for mothers with histories of chronic than non-chronic depression, particularly when the life-course approach to classifying chronicity was used. These data suggest that research that combines chronic and non-chronic depressions includes significant heterogeneity that may hinder understanding of etiology and reduce the likelihood of developing a cumulative and replicable literature. In addition, these findings have significant implications for prevention and treatment.

The effects of maternal depression on their child's behavior problem: The moderating effects of mother's mentalization

The effects of maternal depression on their child's behavior problem: The moderating effects of mother's mentalization

Effects of maternal depression and prenatal SSRI exposure on executive functions and susceptibility to household chaos in 6-year-old children: prospective cohort study.

Maternal depressed mood during pregnancy may shape a child's adaptation to their environment and engagement in goal-directed behaviour such as executive functions. Whether everyday household context also alters executive functions in children with prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressant exposure remains to be determined. To examine the impact of prenatal depressed maternal mood and SSRI exposure on child executive functions and to determine whether these exposures shape a susceptibility to household chaos. A prospective cohort study of mothers and their children (118 mother-children dyads (47 SSRI-exposed, 71 non-exposed)) followed from the second trimester to 6 years. Regression models examined relationships between maternal depressed mood and household chaos on maternal report of child executive functions. Competitive-confirmatory regression models examined whether children were susceptible to household chaos or were positively influenced by less chaos. Prenatal SSRI exposure, third-trimester maternal depressed mood and household chaos in a three-way interaction were associated with executive functions within a model of differential susceptibility. When household chaos was low, children of non-prenatally depressed mothers had better executive function than children of prenatally depressed mothers, regardless of whether the mothers were SSRI-treated. However, when household chaos was high, SSRI-exposed children of mothers who were not depressed during pregnancy had poorer executive functions at 6 years of age compared with SSRI-exposed children whose mothers were symptomatic during pregnancy. The impact of household chaos depended on whether mothers were prenatally depressed and whether mothers were SSRI-treated.

Family environment and self-esteem development: A longitudinal study from age 10 to 16.

In this study, we examined the effect of family environment on self-esteem development from late childhood (age 10) through adolescence (age 16), using 4-wave longitudinal data from 674 Mexican-origin families living in the United States. To assess family environment, a multi-informant approach was used (i.e., mother, father, and child) to construct latent variables that minimize the influence of response biases. Using cross-lagged panel models (CLPMs) and random intercepts cross-lagged panel models (RI-CLPMs), we tested the prospective effects of parenting behaviors (warmth, hostility, monitoring, and involvement in child's education) and other characteristics of the family environment (quality of parental relationship, positive family values, maternal and paternal depression, economic conditions of the family, and presence of father). In the CLPMs, significant positive effects on children's self-esteem emerged for warmth, monitoring, low maternal depression, economic security (vs. hardship), and presence (vs. absence) of father. With regard to the reciprocal effects, children's self-esteem predicted positive family values (i.e., importance and centrality of the family) of mother and father. In the RI-CLPMs, the pattern of results was similar (in terms of point estimates of the effects); however, only the effects of maternal depression on child self-esteem, and the effect of child self-esteem on family values of father, were statistically significant. In all models, the effects did not differ significantly for boys and girls, or across ages 10 to 16. The findings suggest that multiple features of the family environment shape the development of self-esteem during late childhood and adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The Effects of Maternal Depression on Executive Function Difficulties of 3rd-grade Children: The Mediation of the Home Environment

The Effects of Maternal Depression on Executive Function Difficulties of 3rd-grade Children: The Mediation of the Home Environment

Effect of maternal depression on infant-directed speech to prelinguistic infants: Implications for language development.

The nature and timing of caregivers’ speech provides an important foundation for infant attention and language development in the first year of life. Infant-directed speech is a key component of responsive parent-infant communication that is typically characterised by exaggerated intonation and positive affect. This study examines the effect of postnatal depression on the expression of positive vocal affect and pitch, the quantity of mothers’ infant-directed speech input and the timing of vocal responses between mother and infant. Postnatal mothers currently experiencing symptoms of depression (n = 13) were matched to postnatal mothers who were not experiencing symptoms of depression (n = 13), and audio-recorded while playing with their 6-month-old infants. Compared with depressed mothers, non-depressed mothers used a higher mean pitch and pitch range, spoke more, gave faster verbal responses and were rated as expressing more positive valence in their voice. These preliminary findings indicate that mothers experiencing low mood use less infant-directed speech and less exaggerated pitch with prelinguistic infants. Postnatal depression is a major health issue that adversely impacts the parent and child. Early interventions for PND may benefit from identifying ways to support the timing of conversations and mothers’ use of appropriate vocal pitch and infant-directed speech modifications. Further research is needed to confirm whether these strategies support early conversations.

Association of parental depression with offspring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder: A nationwide birth cohort study

BackgroundStudies have indicated that parental depression was slightly related to the increased risk of offspring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However, the association between exposure to parental depression at different neurodevelopmental stages (i.e., perinatal or postnatal period) and subsequent ADHD and ASD development remained uncertain. Method708,515 children born between 2001 and 2008 were screened for ADHD and ASD based on ICD-9-CM codes of 314 and 299 given by psychiatrists from their birth to the end of 2011. Paternal and maternal depression was separately assessed during five periods, namely those before pregnancy (pre-pregnancy), during pregnancy (perinatal), and <1, 1–3, and >3 years after childbirth (postnatal). Cox regression analyses were performed. ResultsBoth paternal and maternal depression occurring in the pre-pregnancy, perinatal and postnatal periods were significantly associated with subsequent ADHD and ASD in the offspring, with hazard ratios between 1.42 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.35–1.49) and 2.25 (2.09–2.41). The chronicity and additive effect of paternal and maternal depression were related to increased risks of offspring ADHD and ASD. The effects of maternal depression were stronger than the effects of paternal depression for offspring ADHD (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.27–1.45) and ASD (HR: 1.23, 95% CI: 1.05–1.46) risks. ConclusionBoth paternal depression and maternal depression in the pre-pregnancy, perinatal and postnatal periods increases offspring ADHD and ASD risks, and these risks increase further with increases in the duration of parental depression and with the additive effect of parental and maternal depression.