Emotional reactivity and expressivity in infants have been previously correlated with vagal tone. This study investigated vagal tone of 3- and 6-month-old infants of depressed mothers. Vagal tone did not differ for infants of depressed versus nondepressed mothers at 3 months, but lower vagal tone was noted in infants of depressed versus nondepressed mothers at 6 months. The developmental increase in vagal tone that occurred between 3 and 6 months for infants of nondepressed mothers did not occur for infants of depressed mothers. Correlation analyses suggested that higher vagal tone at 6 months was related to more vocalizations and more optimal neurological scores.

To determine whether infants of “depressed” mothers interact better with their nondepressed fathers, twenty‐six 3‐ to 6‐month‐old infants were videotaped during face‐to‐face interactions with their parents. The “depressed” mother group consisted of twelve 3‐ to 6‐month‐old infants and their “depressed” mothers and nondepressed fathers. The control group was composed of 14 nondepressed mothers and nondepressed fathers and their 3‐ to 6‐month‐old infants. In the “depressed” mother group, the nondepressed fathers received better interaction ratings than the “depressed” mothers. In turn, the infants received better interaction ratings when they interacted with their nondepressed fathers than with their “depressed” mothers. In contrast, nondepressed fathers and mothers and their infants in the control group did not differ on any of their interaction ratings. These findings suggest that infants' difficult interaction behaviors noted during interactions with their “depressed” mothers may not extend to their nondepressed fathers. The data are discussed with respect to the notion that nondepressed fathers may “buffer” the effects of maternal depression on infant interaction behavior.

Videotaped happy and sad facehoice stimuli were presented after a neutral starfield baseline stimulus to 24 3-month-old infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers.The infants looked at and showed more positive expressions during the happy and sad facdvoice stimuli versus the neutral starfield. The infants of non-depressed versus depressed mothers looked at the sad facehoice stimulus longer, perhaps because the sad facelvoice stimulus was more novel for the infants of non-depressed mothers.

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