Chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms: Relationships with child outcomes at age 5.

Abstract

The relationships between severity, chronicity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child outcomes were examined in a cohort of 4,953 children. Mothers provided self-reports of depressive symptoms during pregnancy, immediately postpartum, and when the child was 6 months old and 5 years old. At the age 5 follow-up, mothers reported on children's behavior and children completed a receptive vocabulary test. Results suggest that both the severity and the chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms are related to more behavior problems and lower vocabulary scores in children. The interaction of severity and chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms was significantly related to higher levels of child behavior problems. Timing of maternal symptoms was not significantly related to child vocabulary scores, but more recent reports of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher rates of child behavior problems.

Cites (4)

1. The CES-D Scale: A Self-Report Depression Scale for Research in the General Population
   Radloff, Lenore Sawyer · 1977 · Applied Psychological Measurement
2. An inventory for measuring depression
   BECK, A. T. · 1961 · Archives of General Psychiatry
3. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation
   Beck, Aaron T., Steer, Robert A., Carbin, Margery G. · 1988 · Clinical Psychology Review
4. Maternal depression and the quality of early attachment: an examination of infants, preschoolers, and their mothers
   Teti, Douglas M., Gelfand, Donna M., Messinger, Daniel S., Isabella, Russell · 1995 · Developmental Psychology

Show all 4 references

Cited by (58)

1. Maternal Depression and Child Psychopathology: A Meta-Analytic Review
   Goodman, Sherryl H., Rouse, Matthew H., Connell, Arin M., Broth, Michelle Robbins, Hall, Christine M., Heyward, Devin · 2011 · Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review
2. Journal of Inter Personal Violence
   2005 · Journal of Interpersonal Violence
3. Postpartum depression: current status and future directions
   O'Hara, Michael W., McCabe, Jennifer E. · 2013 · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
4. The effect of postpartum depression on child cognitive development and behavior: a review and critical analysis of the literature
   Grace, S. L., Evindar, A., Stewart, D. E. · 2003 · Archives of Women's Mental Health
5. Association of persistent and severe postnatal depression with child outcomes
   Netsi, Elena, Pearson, Rebecca M., Murray, Lynne, Cooper, Peter, Craske, Michelle G., Stein, Alan · 2018 · JAMA Psychiatry

See all 519