Symptoms In Mothers Research Articles

Factors That Influence Depressive Symptoms in Mothers of Infants

This study explored the association between interpersonal factors and depressive symptoms in first-time mothers over the first two years of parenthood. An interpersonal style characterized by dependency, recollections of rejection in childhood, and current relationship characteristics was assessed in a nonclinical sample of 133 women. The final model explained 52% of the variance in depressive symptoms at 24 months. Controlling for initial symptom levels, interpersonal variables explained 24% of the outcome variance. The findings suggest that two interpersonal attributes, peer rejection in childhood and a dependent interpersonal style, are particularly important to our understanding of depressive symptomatology.

The Relation of Problem Behaviors in Preschool Children to Depressive Symptoms in Mothers and Fathers

The relation of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms to problem behaviors in a nonclinical sample of preschool children was examined. Data were collected from 46 women, their husbands, and their 4-year-old, first-born children. Observed maternal restrictive and punishing behavior and attachment security of the child were considered additional sources of risk for externalizing and internalizing problem behaviors. Different predictors for child externalizing and internalizing behaviors were identified via hierarchical multiple regression analyses. Maternal and paternal depressive symptoms and maternal restrictive and punishing behavior emerged as salient predictors of child internalizing behaviors. For externalizing behaviors, there were significant gender differences: For girls, maternal depressive symptoms made a significant contribution to the model; the model for boys was not significant. The results perhaps reflect different etiological pathways for externalizing and internalizing behaviors, supporting the suggestion that those behaviors are distinct clinical phenomena, even among very young children. The findings also suggest that nonclinical levels of parental symptomatology show systematic relations to children's problem behaviors.

Posttraumatic stress symptoms and depression in mothers of children with severe burn injuries.

This study examined posttraumatic stress symptoms and depressive symptoms in mothers of children with burn injuries from accidentally falling into a bathtub filled with hot water. Subjects were 16 pairs, children with burn injuries and their mothers. Psychiatric interviews were administered to the mothers to check the presence or absence of mental disorders. The severity of mothers' depressive symptoms was rated on the Hamilton Depression Scale. Prevalence rates of DSM-IV posttraumatic stress disorder and major depression were 6.3% and 0% in children with burn injury and 12.5% and 18.8% in their mothers, respectively. For three symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (intense distress at similar event, restricted range of affect, and hypervigilance), prevalence rates were significantly higher for the mothers than for the children. Ratings of the three symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder for the mothers were significantly and positively correlated with scores for guilt feelings. Compared with children with burn injury, mothers are prone to posttraumatic stress symptoms mixed with guilt feelings for children with burn injury.

Predicting Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in Mothers and Fathers of Survivors of Childhood Cancers

To predict posttraumatic stress symptoms in parents of survivors of childhood cancer, using as predictors the following: personality (trait anxiety); current family and individual variables (perceived life threat, perceived treatment intensity, life events, family functioning, and social support); posttreatment variables (time since treatment ended, child anxiety, medical sequelae); and treatment events (age at diagnosis, radiation therapy, intensity of treatment). Mothers and fathers of 6- to 20-year-old survivors of childhood cancer (n = 331 families) completed a questionnaire battery in this two-site study. The outcome variable was the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Reaction Index. Multiple regressions and path analyses were used to test the model. For both mothers and fathers, anxiety was the strongest predictor of posttraumatic stress symptoms. The current family and individual variables also contributed significantly, particularly with respect to the individual contributions of perceived life threat, perceived treatment intensity, and social support. Objective medical data did not contribute to posttraumatic stress symptoms. Parental anxiety warrants attention throughout the course of treatment for childhood cancer and after treatment ends. Beliefs about past and present life threats associated with cancer treatment and family and social support are other important targets for intervention.

The Differential Effects of Social Support on the Psychological Well-Being of Aging Mothers of Adults with Mental Illness or Mental Retardation

The Differential Effects of Social Support on the Psychological Well-Being of Aging Mothers of Adults With Mental Illness or Mental Retardation* Jan S. Greenberg**, Marsha Mailick Seltzer, Marty Wyngaarden Krauss, and Hea-won Kim Aging mothers of adults with mental illness and aging mothers of adults with mental retardation were contrasted with respect to their levels of stress, social support resources and the extent to which social support was predictive of their level of caregiving burden and depressive symptoms. Although mothers of adults with mental illness had smaller social support networks than mothers of adults with mental retardation, they were more likely to be members of support groups and have at least one friend also caring for a relative with disabilities. In addition, social support was a more prominent predictor of changes in burden and depressive symptoms in mothers of adults with mental illness, suggesting the importance of the social context for their psychological well-being. Key Words: caregiver burden, caregiving, mental illness, mental retardation, social sup port, support groups. In recent years, research attention has focused increasingly on the well-being of aging parents caring for an adult son or daughter with lifelong disabilities, including mental illness and mental retardation (Cook, Lefley, Pickett, & Cohler, 1994; Greenberg, Seltzer, & Greenley, 1993; Lefley, 1987; Seltzer, Greenberg, & Krauss, 1995; Seltzer & Krauss, 1989). In our earlier work, we found that aging mothers caring for an adult child with mental illness experience higher levels of caregiver burden and lower levels of psychological well-being than aging mothers caring for an adult child with mental retardation (Greenberg et al., 1993; Seltzer et al., 1995). Research on the stress process (Ensel & Lin, 1991; Pearlin, 1989) has shown that coping and social support are two resources that influence the extent to which a stressful situation, such as lifelong caregiving responsibility, takes a toll on psychological well-being. Our past research has investigated the differential effects of coping by aging mothers of adults with mental illness as compared with aging mothers of adults with mental retardation. We found that although the two groups were similar in the coping strategies they employed in response to stressful situations, they differed in the effect of coping on their level of psychological well-being. When mothers of adults with mental retardation used problem focused coping strategies, they were able to reduce their risk of depression, but mothers of adults with mental illness experienced no such relief when they coped similarly (Seltzer et al., 1995). We interpreted this difference in the effectiveness of problem-focused coping as being related to differences in the caregiving context between the two groups. Folkman (1984) posited that problem-focused strategies are most effective in coping with stressors that are within the individual's control. We argued that families of persons with mental illness experience less control over the stresses associated with caregiving because of the cyclical nature of mental illness and the associated behavioral problems that disrupt family and social routines (Francell, Conn, & Gray, 1988; Wasow, 1994). In contrast, most adults with mental retardation show stability in their functional level and cognitive abilities (Eyman & Widaman, 1987), and thus parental caregivers are more likely to experience the caregiving context as predictable and controllable (Wikler, 1986). In this paper, we extend our past work by exploring the role of social support in mitigating caregiving stress among these two groups of parental caregivers of adults with disabilities. Parallel with our earlier work on coping, in this paper we examine two general research questions with respect to the extent to which social support is a resource that reduces the stress of long-term parental caregiving. …

Personal, family, and health-related correlates of depressive symptoms in mothers with HIV.

This study examined longitudinally depressive symptoms in 54 HIV-infected mothers with infants. The contribution of selected personal and family characteristics and health-related factors to depressive symptoms also was explored. Most of the women were single and African American, and most were on public assistance. Data were collected when the infants were approximately 3, 6, and 12 months of age. About a third of the mothers were at risk for depression, as indicated by Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale scores above the cutoff. The best predictors of depressive symptoms were feelings of stigma, self-perceptions of health, and physical symptoms, all factors associated with HIV. The findings have implications for helping HIV-infected mothers with depressive symptoms and stigma related to HIV.

Personal, family, and health-related correlates of depressive symptoms in mothers with HIV.

Personal, family, and health-related correlates of depressive symptoms in mothers with HIV.

Depressive Symptoms and Work Role Satisfaction in Mothers of Toddlers

To determine the incidence of depressive symptoms in mothers of toddlers in community pediatric practice. The interaction of employment and work role satisfaction with depressive symptoms was also investigated. Depression screening measures were completed by 233 mothers of toddlers (aged 12 to 24 months) at health supervision visits in two community pediatric practices in New Hampshire. Depression was evaluated with a depressive symptom screening inventory modified by Barrett, Oxman, and Gerber from the Hopkins Symptom Checklist for use in primary care population. Data were obtained on parents' socioeconomic variables, hours worked, and whether the mother was satisfied with her current role of being employed or not employed. Depressive symptoms were present in 42% of mothers. Rates of depressive symptoms were similar in employment groups but varied significantly with work role satisfaction. When both employment and satisfaction were considered, mothers who were dissatisfied were 3.7 times more likely to be depressed. After controlling for work role satisfaction, mothers working part time were half as likely to be depressed as mothers working full time and not employed. Depressive symptoms are a major problem for mothers of toddlers in middle class pediatric practice. Work role satisfaction and employment status together are related to depressive symptoms.

Unemployment and Work Interruption among African American Single Mothers: Effects on Parenting and Adolescent Socioemotional Functioning

Using interview data from a sample of 241 single African American mothers and their seventh- and eighth-grade children, this study tests a model of how 2 economic stressors, maternal unemployment and work interruption, influence adolescent socioemotional functioning. In general, these economic stressors affected adolescent socioemotional functioning indirectly, rather than directly, through their impact on mothers' psychological functioning and, in turn, parenting behavior and mother-child relations. Current unemployment, but not past work interruption, had a direct effect on depressive symptomatology in mothers. As expected, depressive symptomatology in mothers predicted more frequent maternal punishment of adolescents, and this relation was fully mediated by mothers' negative perceptions of the maternal role. More frequent maternal punishment was associated with increased cognitive distress and depressive symptoms in adolescents, and consistent with predictions, these relations were partially mediated by adolescents' perceptions of the quality of relations with their mothers. Increased availability of instrumental support, as perceived by mothers, predicted fewer depressive symptoms in mothers, less punishment of adolescents, and less negativity about the maternal role. Both economic stressors were associated with higher levels of perceived financial strain in mothers, which in turn predicted adolescents' perceptions of economic hardship. Adolescents who perceived their families as experiencing more severe economic hardship reported higher anxiety, more cognitive distress, and lower self-esteem.

‘Factitious’ illness or ‘Munchausen by proxy’

The use of the term 'Munchausen by proxy '1 derives from the description of a form of adult illness behaviour, also known as 'hospital addiction', in which the patient presents to emergency departments of hospitals over a wide geographical area, named after the fabulous and extravagant adventures of the Baron von Munchausen. 2 Adult patients who exhibit this behaviour present with care- and attentionseeking behaviour and complaints of physical disease relating to any system of the body. Illness may be simulated in a range of bizarre ways and in the production of actual physical signs or symptoms these patients risk potentially serious or dangerous investigations or surgery. In most, serious personality disorder is present and the risk-taking behavior escalates, becoming entrenched and incorrigible. With the developments in the past few years of liaison psychiatry (the link between general medicine and psychiatry) it has become evident that the production of simulated, presumed or fabricated 'factitious' illness can occur with reference to any system of the body - endocrine, gynaecological, haematological, neurological and urological forms of factitious illness all exist. For example, I have documented a case of factitious (fabricated) ante-partum haemorrhage in a mother almost at term where the sudden appearance of an alarming quantity of blood (later shown to come from a self-inflicted cut in a varicose vein) led to an unnecessary emergency Caesarian section. Obstetric staff, whose basic training assumes genuine symptoms in mother and baby, are not surprisingly incensed at such risk-taking and deceptive behaviour and react negatively, yet many midwives are aware that, tired and miserable towards the end of a

Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Mothers of Young Children

Mothers of young children are at risk for depressive symptoms due to their gender and status as parents. The primary purposes of this study were (1) to assess the prevalence of depressive symptoms in a sample of mothers with young children, (2) to identify sociodemographic correlates of depressive symptoms among the women, and (3) to determine if chronic stress is associated with depressive symptoms independent of other risk factors. In-home interviews were conducted with 196 mothers of 5- and 6-year-old children using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies--Depression (CES-D) Scale and the Everyday Stressors Index (ESI). High depressive symptoms (CES-D greater than or equal to 16) were reported by 49% of the mothers. They were highest among those who had never married, had less than a high school education, were under 25 years of age, were black, and had a low income. The ESI was a strong predictor of high depressive symptoms, controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. In comparison to mothers reporting a low level of everyday stressors (score = 5), those scoring 15 were 3 times more likely to have high depressive symptoms; those scoring 35 were more than 30 times as likely to have high CES-D scores. The results suggest the importance of chronic daily stressors as correlates of depressive symptoms in mothers of young children and also point to the need for multivariate models when examining predictors of those symptoms.

パーキンソン病の母とその娘に認められた精神神経症状について

In the present article, the authers have studied a family case of mental and nervous disorders which might indicate a close relationship of heredity of extapyramidal fragility to psychotic state.The prob and was a 52-year-old married female patient with Parkinson's disease, and she had been suffered from various extrapyramidal symptoms such as tremor, muscle rigidity, mild postural disorders and some other autonomic failures for last 12 years. She has been medically treated with antiparkinsonian drugs since 1985, and the most of symptoms were not disappeared but slightly improved. In 1987 during the treatment, she showed a psychotic episode with insomnia, loss of appetite, delusions of persecution, visual and auditory hallucinations.Her daughter,25-year-old unmarried girl at home, presented agitation, auditory hallucinations and delusions of persecution, and she was admitted in 1987 when she showed psychomotor excitements. She was diagnosed as schizophrenia, paranoid type and began to receive neuroleptics medication since then. As soon as the medication had started, she developed extrapyramidalism such as tremor, rigidity, gait and postural disturbances. Her psychotic symptoms have disappeared and the neuroleptic medication was discontinued. The majority of her extrapyramidal symptoms have been improved but mild tremor has still remained unchanged, even under anti-parkinsonian medications.It is interesting that the daughter's extra pyramidalism resembled closely to the mother's symptoms, in spite of their etiologies are apparently different. Extrapyramidalism and paranoid-hallucinatory state are considered as a result of disturbances of dopaminergic regulation. Therefore, it occurs as the side effect or poisoning of neuroleptic substance. In our cases, however, it is important to realize that the evolutions of the disturbances in the two cases are unusual and that both the cases possess a common hereditary factors. Then, their psychotic states and nervous disorders might be establised on a certain common background. Anyway, this case may be a clue to solve the missing link between psychiatry and neurology.

Use of a self-report symptom scale to detect depression in a community sample

The authors gave the CES-D, a self-report depression symptom scale, to 515 people drawn from a longitudinal community survey. The subjects were also interviewed using the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). From the information collected on the SADS, the subjects were given diagnoses based on Research Diagnostic Criteria. The results indicate a modest relationship between self-reported symptoms of depression and the diagnosis of a major or minor depression. However, the groups defined as "cases" by such reports also include many people with other diagnoses or with no diagnoses at all. Thus, symptom scales are useful for the screening of depressed persons in research studies but are only rough indicators of clinical depression in the community.

Prenatal Methylmercury Poisoning

Thirty-two infants prenatally exposed to methylmercury and their mothers were examined over a five-year period after the Iraqi methylmercury epidemic. Severity of poisoning in mothers was related to the peak mercury concentration in their hair and in the infants to the maximum concentration in maternal hair during pregnancy. In nine cases of cerebral palsy, methylmercury exposure occurred only during the last trimester. All infants except three (two were orphaned soon after birth and one was bottle-fed) were exposed postnatally via suckling. Whereas the mother's symptoms usually improved, the damage to the fetal nervous system appears to be permanent. Milder cases previously not identified in other studies are reported. The syndrome consists of varying degrees of developmental retardation in addition to exaggerated tendon reflexes and the pathologic extensor plantar reflex (minimal brain damage syndrome).