The effect of postpartum depression on child cognitive development and behavior: A review and critical analysis of the literature

@article{Grace2003TheEO,
  title={The effect of postpartum depression on child cognitive development and behavior: A review and critical analysis of the literature},
  author={Sherry Lynn Grace and Alexandra Evindar and Donna Eileen Stewart},
  journal={Archives of Women’s Mental Health},
  year={2003},
  volume={6},
  pages={263-274}
}
Summary¶The incidence of postpartum depression (PPD) in Western societies is approximately 10–15% and its cause multi-faceted. Because mothers largely constitute infants’ social environment and mediate their experience of the external world, it is imperative to investigate the effects of PPD on child growth and development. PsycInfo, Medline, Embase, CINAHL, ProQuest, and Health Star databases were searched with key terms for English language abstracts from 1990 onwards, and key contents were… 
View on Springer
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
798 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
23
Background Citations
262
Methods Citations
7
Results Citations
21

798 Citations

Postpartum Depression is a Family Affair: Addressing the Impact on Mothers, Fathers, and Children

Research on the effects of postpartum depression on mothers, fathers, and children that point to a re-conceptualization of PPD as a mental health condition that affects the whole family are presented.

Post-Partum Depression Effect on Child Health and Development.

PPD, the current depressive symptoms, and depression at both occasions were associated with more health problems in children and childhood developmental disabilities in some domains of ASQ were significantly related to the maternal depression chronicity or recurrence.

Prevention of Postpartum Depression in Low-Income Women: Development of the Mamás y Bebés/Mothers and Babies Course☆

Preventing postpartum depression: review and recommendations

Among biological studies, anti-depressants and nutrients provided the most evidence of successful intervention, and interpersonal therapy trials and trials that targeted an at-risk population appear to hold the most promise for further study.

Effects of postpartum depression on the behaviour of children born to mothers with epilepsy

Does postpartum depression predict emotional and cognitive difficulties in 11 year olds

This paper examines the role of postpartum depression (PPD) on the emotional and cognitive development of 11-year olds, a key stage of transition in child development before entering adolescence. The…

Effects of perinatal mental disorders on the fetus and child

Postnatal depression ? the impact for women and children and interventions to enhance the mother-infant relationship

Motherhood can be both rewarding and fulfilling. However, the stress and daily pressures of raising children impact on wellbeing. The postnatal period can be especially difficult for women already…

Associations between postnatal maternal depression and psychological outcomes in adolescent offspring: a systematic review

It was concluded that PND possibly increases risk vulnerability in the presence of recurrent, concurrent, and antenatal maternal depression but that these latter factors alone may be the stronger specific predictors.

Effects of maternal postpartum depression in a well-resourced sample: Early concurrent and long-term effects on infant cognitive, language, and motor development.

It was found that maternal postpartum depression was associated with poorer cognitive development at infant age four months, the effect size being large (Cohen's d = 0.8) and with similar effects for boys and girls.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 25 REFERENCES

The effects of postpartum depression on child development: a meta-analysis.

Interpreting the effects of mothers' postnatal depression on children's intelligence: A critique and re-analysis

Re-analysis of prospective longitudinal data from a community sample of primiparous North London women followed from early pregnancy until the children were 4 years old provided support for the original finding of an association between postnatal depression and impaired cognitive abilities in the children.

Effects of postnatal depression on children's adjustment to school

The findings indicate a persistent effect of postnatal depression on child adjustment and highlight the need for resources devoted to supporting mothers of young children and particularly routine screening and treatment for postnatal mood disorder.

Effects of maternal depression on cognitive development of children over the first 7 years of life.

  • S. KurstjensD. Wolke
  • Psychology, Medicine
    Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines
  • 2001
It is concluded that maternal depression per se has negligible effects on children's cognitive development and long-term effects may be found when maternal depression is chronic, the child is a boy and neonatal risk-born, or the family suffers other social risks.

The impact of postnatal depression on infant development.

  • L. Murray
  • Psychology
    Journal of child psychology and psychiatry, and allied disciplines
  • 1992
Postnatal depression had no effect on general cognitive and language development, but appeared to make infants more vulnerable to adverse effects of lower social class and male gender.

The cognitive development of 5-year-old children of postnatally depressed mothers.

A number of factors in the child's current environment, including stimulation at home, social class and, for boys, the experience of schooling, contributed to cognitive performance and early experience of insensitive maternal interactions predicted the persistence of poorer cognitive functioning.

Postpartum depression and child development.

Murray, Cooper, The role of the Infant and Maternal Factors in Postpartum Depression, Mother Infant Interactions, and Infant Outcome, and Teti, Gelfand, Maternal Cognitions as Mediators of Child Outcomes in the Context of Post partum Depression.

The impact of postnatal depression on boys' intellectual development.

Boys of mothers depressed in the first year postpartum scored approximately 1 standard deviation lower on standardised tests of intellectual attainment than boys whose mothers were well that year.

Antidepressant treatment for post-natal depression.

Women with postnatal depression can be effectively treated with fluoxetine, which is as effective as a course of cognitive-behavioural counselling in the short-term, but more trials with a longer follow-up period are needed to compare different antidepressant drugs and compare antidepressant treatment with psychosocial interventions.

The impact of postnatal depression and associated adversity on early mother-infant interactions and later infant outcome.

Depressed mothers were less sensitively attuned to their infants, and were less affirming and more negating of infant experience, and similar difficulties in maternal interactions were also evident in the context of social and personal adversity.