Cited by 747Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and PostpartumChild and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional DevelopmentInfant Health and Development

Maternal Depression and Anxiety Across the Postpartum Year and Infant Social Engagement, Fear Regulation, and Stress Reactivity

Feldman, Ruth, Granat, Adi, Pariente, Clara, Kanety, Hannah, Kuint, Jacob, Gilboa-Schechtman, Eva·2009·Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

Abstract

Objective To examine the effects of maternal depression on infant social engagement, fear regulation, and cortisol reactivity as compared with maternal anxiety disorders and controls and to assess the role of maternal sensitivity in moderating the relations between maternal depression and infant outcome.Method Using an extreme-case design, 971 women reported symptoms of anxiety and depression after childbirth and 215 of those at the high and low ends were reevaluated at 6 months. At 9 months, mothers diagnosed with a major depressive disorder (n = 22) and anxiety disorders (n = 19) and matched controls reporting no symptoms across the postpartum year (n = 59) were visited at home. Infant social engagement was observed during mother-infant interaction, emotion regulation was microcoded from a fear paradigm, and mother's and infant's cortisol were sampled at baseline, reactivity, and recovery.Results The infants of depressed mothers scored the poorest on all three outcomes at 9 months-lowest social engagement, less mature regulatory behaviors and more negative emotionality, and highest cortisol reactivity-with anxious dyads scoring less optimally than the controls on maternal sensitivity and infant social engagement. Fear regulation among the children of anxious mothers was similar to that of the controls and their stress reactivity to infants of depressed mothers. Effect of major depressive disorder on social engagement was moderated by maternal sensitivity, whereas two separate effects of maternal disorder and mother sensitivity emerged for stress reactivity.Conclusions Pathways leading from maternal depression to infant outcome are specific to developmental achievement. Better understanding of such task-specific mechanisms may help devise more specifically targeted interventions.

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Crossref · 10.1097/chi.0b013e3181b21651

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Authors
Feldman, R., Granat, A., Pariente, C., Kanety, H., Kuint, J., & Gilboa-Schechtman, E.
Affiliations
Bar-Ilan University (IL)
Corresponding author
Feldman, Ruth
Venue
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2009-09
Volume
48
Issue
9
Pages
919-927
ISSN
0890-8567 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1981559145
Cited by
747
References
52
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 58 · 2021: 59 · 2020: 90 · 2019: 60 · 2018: 52 · 2017: 47 · 2016: 37 · 2015: 42 · 2014: 41 · 2013: 37 · 2012: 24
FWCI
23.08
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Infant Health and Development
Keywords
maternal depression, maternal anxiety disorders, postpartum depression, cortisol response, stress reactivity, maternal sensitivity, mother-infant interaction, infant negative emotionality, emotion regulation
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Arousal, Major Depressive Disorder, Fear, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Hydrocortisone, Infant, Male, Maternal Behavior, Mother-Child Relations, Personality Assessment, Puerperal Disorders, Social Behavior, Depression, Postpartum

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