Remissions in Maternal Depression and Child Psychopathology

Abstract

Remission of maternal depression has a positive effect on both mothers and their children, whereas mothers who remain depressed may increase the rates of their children's disorders. These findings support the importance of vigorous treatment for depressed mothers in primary care or psychiatric clinics and suggest the utility of evaluating the children, especially children whose mothers continue to be depressed.

Mood disorders in childhood and adolescence

“…31 Adopting a developmental perspective for understanding the origins and persistence of mental disorders has led to the search for preventive strategies to avoid the incidence of depressive episodes. Studies suggest that the treatment of mothers with depression is associated with a lower incidence of psychiatric diagnoses and better responses to treatment with CBT in children, 32 which reinforces the need for a comprehensive family assessment and interventions directed at caregivers when needed.…”

Dietary patterns during pregnancy and the risk of postpartum depression: the mother–child ‘Rhea’ cohort in Crete, Greece

“…The prevalence of PPD symptomatology has been estimated from 12 % to 20 % in Greece, according to the Edinburg Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) (5)(6)(7) . The deleterious effects of PPD on offspring's development and cognitive and social functioning are well documented (8,9) .…”

Factors Influencing Female Caregivers' Appraisals of Their Preschoolers' Behaviors

“…If the mother"s report is not accurate because of her depressive symptoms, the child may be mistakenly treated with psychotropic medications when it is the mother that needs mental health interventions. One research study found that, after identifying a mother as depressive and beginning appropriate treatment, within three months one third of the 150 school age and high school aged students in the study no longer were rated as having problematic behaviors by their mothers (Weissman et al, 2006). It is possible that the mother"s depressive symptoms distort her perception of her child"s behavior.…”

“…In numerous large, racially diverse studies that included Caucasian, African American, Asian, Hispanic, Native American and Interracial families, researchers have consistently shown that maternal depression is strongly associated with problematic child behavior (Calzada, et al, 2004;Civic & Holt, 2000;Dawson et al, 2003;Durbin, Klein, Hayden, Buckley & Moerk, 2005;Garstein & Sheeber, 2004;Hughes, Hedtke, & Kendall, 2008;Kendall, Leo, Perrin & Hatton, 2005;Kopp & Beauchaine, 2007;Owens & Shaw, 2003;Walker & Cheng, 2007;Weissman et al, 2006). Depressed mothers of preschool children also received less social support than non-depressed mothers (Black et al, 2002;Dawson et al, 2003;Lee, Halpern, HertzPicciotto, Martin, & Suchindran, 2006).…”

“…Female caregiver depressive symptomatology has been strongly linked to problematic child behavior (Calzada et al, 2004;Civic & Holt, 2000;Dawson et al, 2003;Durbin et al, 2005;Garstein & Sheeber, 2004;Hughes et al, 2008;Kendall et al, 2005;Kopp & Beauchaine, 2007;Owens & Shaw, 2003;Walker & Cheng, 2007;Weissman et al, 2006), but very few studies have examined the preschool child"s behavior once the female caregiver"s depression was treated. Female caregiver depression and depressive symptomatology includes any form of depression in a female caregiver that affects the wellbeing of the entire family.…”