Comment on “Remission of maternal depression and children’s psychopathology.” (original) (raw)
Treatment of depressed mothers of depressed children: Pilot study of feasibility
Depression and Anxiety, 2004
Numerous studies have shown that depression is highly familial and impairing and that a history of depression in a parent is the strongest risk factor for depression in a child. Many of the parents in these studies have never received sustained treatment despite histories of recurrent depression. None of the studies have examined the effects of maternal symptom remission on offspring symptom or functioning. We sought to determine the feasibility of treating depressed mothers who brought an offspring for the treatment of depression and to examine the relationship between improved maternal depression and symptomatic improvement and social functioning in their offspring. Nine mothers bringing their offspring for treatment of depression, and who were evaluated and found to be currently depressed, completed a 12-week open trial of interpersonal psychotherapy. Mothers and their depressed offspring were assessed by independent evaluators at weeks 0, 6, and 12 for depressive symptomatology and social functioning. Although the rates of depression were high among the mothers, few eligible mothers agreed to participate. Of the 12 who entered treatment, 9 (75%) completed it. Mothers and offspring improved with regard to depressive symptomatology and global functioning over the course of the trial. Improvement in maternal depression was significantly associated with improvement in offspring functioning but not symptom reduction. Improvement of maternal depression may be associated with improved outcomes in depressed offspring. However, it is difficult to engage depressed mothers in treatment for themselves if they come to the clinic to bring their child for treatment of depression. It may be more feasible to study the effect of improved maternal depression on offspring by sampling depressed mothers coming for their own treatment and then assessing their children over the course of maternal treatment.
Treatment of Maternal Depression in a Medication Clinical Trial and Its Effect on Children
The American journal of psychiatry, 2015
Objective: Observational studies show that when a depressed mother's symptoms remit, her children's psychiatric symptoms decrease. Using randomized treatment assignment, the authors sought to determine the differential effects of a depressed mother's treatment on her child. Method: The study was a randomized double-blind 12-week trial of escitalopram, bupropion, or the combination of the two in depressed mothers (N=76), with independent assessment of their children (N=135; ages 7-17 years). Results: There were no significant treatment differences in mothers' depressive symptoms or remission.…
The Effect of Maternal Depression on Young Children’s Progress in Treatment
Journal of Child and Family Studies, 2014
This study examined the effect of maternal depression on the functioning of young, primarily Latino children (birth to 5) in an inner-city mental health treatment program designed for children involved or at risk of involvement with the child welfare system. Children and their mothers were evaluated at entry into the program and at 6-month intervals while in treatment. Maternal depression, child behavior problems, and child development were all measured. At entry into the program, children (n = 194) whose mothers were depressed had higher levels of behavior problems and poorer development. Boys had more problems than girls. A growth curve model of those with more than one measurement point (n = 147) found that although all children improved with treatment, children whose mothers were depressed improved more slowly than children whose mothers were not depressed. Findings support the negative impact of maternal depression on children's progress in treatment. Keywords Maternal depression Á Infant mental health Á Children's mental health Á Latino children Á Latino
The Impact of Maternal Depression in Young Children
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 1987
\n urban working class sample of depressed mothers with two-yr-old children was compared with a control group of non-depressed mothers using maternal interviews, home observation of mother/chUd interaction, and developmental assessment of the chUdren. Measures were repeated after six months. Children of depressed mothers showed more emotional and behavioural disturbance and delay in expressive language development. Depressed mothers had more past and current adverse experiences, particularly in close relationships. In general depressed mothers were less responsive to their children and less able to sustain social interaction: their children were more often distressed, but there was a big variation in quality of mother/child interaction within the depressed group.
Remission of Depression in Parents: Links to Healthy Functioning in Their Children
Child Development, 2011
This study examined whether improvement in parents' depression was linked with changes in their children's depressive symptoms and functioning. Participants were 223 parents and children ranging in age from 7-17 years old (Mean=12.13, SD=2.31); 126 parents were in treatment for depression and 97 parents were nondepressed. Children were evaluated six times over two years. Changes in parents' depressive symptoms predicted changes in children's depressive symptoms over and above the effect of time; children's symptoms significantly predicted parents' symptoms. Trajectories of children's depressive symptoms differed significantly for children of remitted versus nonremitted depressed parents, and these differences were significantly predicted by their parents' level of depression. The relation between parents' and children's depressive symptoms was partially mediated by parental acceptance. Depression is a common psychiatric disorder in adults that presents a great cost to society in terms of dysfunctional interpersonal relationships (e.g., parenting), reduced work productivity, and increased utilization of medical and mental health services (Murray & Lopez, 1996). In adults, the population incidence of depressive disorders in a given year is 9.5% (Kessler, Chiu, Demler, & Walters, 2005b); lifetime prevalence rates are about 18% (Kessler et al., 2005a), with the highest rates in women during the years they are bearing and raising children (Heneghan, Silver, Westbrook, Bauman, & Stein, 1998; Kessler, 2003). Offspring of depressed parents are at significantly greater risk of developing depression and other psychiatric disorders, cognitive and medical difficulties, and impaired academic and social functioning compared to offspring of nondepressed parents (
Longitudinal Study of Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Well-Being
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2001
Objective: To investigate whether prenatal, postnatal, and/or current maternal depressive symptoms are associated with low level of psychosocial functioning or high level of emotional/behavioral problems in school-age children. Method: As part of a prospective longitudinal study, maternal depressive symptoms were screened with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale prenatally, postnatally, and when the children were 8 to 9 years old. The original sample of 349 mothers was collected in 1989-1990 in Tampere, Finland. Of the 270 mother-child pairs at the latest stage of the study in 1997-1998, 188 mother-child pairs participated and 147 were included. The associations between maternal depressive symptoms at different points in time and the level of children's psychosocial functioning and problems reported on the Child Behavior Checklist and Teacher's Report Form were examined. Results: Children's low social competence and low adaptive functioning were associated with concurrent maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms predicted low social competence. The presence of prenatal depressive symptoms in the mother was a strong predictor of child's high externalizing and total problem levels (odds ratio 3.1, 95% confidence interval 1.1-8.9 and odds ratio 8.5, 95% confidence interval 2.7-26.5). Prenatal as well as recurrent maternal depressive symptoms were associated with the least favorable child outcome. Conclusions: Maternal depressive symptomatology at any time, especially prenatally, is a risk factor for the child's well-being. This should be noted already in prenatal care. The timing and the recurrence of maternal depressive symptoms affect the outcome for the child.
Developmental Psychology, 2000
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.
Adjustment of children of depressed mothers: A 10-month follow-up
Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1991
There is considerable concern about the adjustment of children of depressed mothers. Earlier we studied the specificity of these difficulties to maternal depression. Child adjustment difficulties were evident in 7-to 13-year-old children of both depressed and nondepressed psychiatric patient mothers but not in the children of community mothers or nondepressed medical patient mothers . This report describes a 10-month follow-up of 44 of these subjects. Despite the alleviation of maternal depressive symptomatology, children in the 2 psychiatric groups continued to manifest adjustment difficulties that were evident to both clinicians and mothers. These findings suggest that the adjustment difficulties found in the children of psychologically distressed mothers do not abate within the 1st year after the mothers' recovery.