Emotion recognition in preschool children: Associations with maternal depression and early parenting

Abstract

Emotion knowledge in childhood has been shown to predict social functioning and psychological well-being, but relatively little is known about parental factors that influence its development in early childhood. There is some evidence that both parenting behavior and maternal depression are associated with emotion recognition, but previous research has only examined these factors independently. The current study assessed auditory and visual emotion recognition ability among a large sample of preschool children to examine typical emotion recognition skills in children of this age, as well as the independent and interactive effects of maternal and paternal depression and negative parenting (i.e., hostility and intrusiveness). Results indicated that children were most accurate at identifying happy emotional expressions, followed by other basic emotions. The lowest accuracy was observed for neutral expressions. A significant interaction was found between maternal depression and negative parenting behavior, such that children with a maternal history of depression were particularly sensitive to the negative effects of maladaptive parenting behavior on emotion recognition ability. No significant effects were found for paternal depression. These results highlight the importance of examining the effects of multiple interacting factors on children’s emotional development, and provide suggestions for identifying children for targeted preventive interventions.

Early Parenting Moderates the Association Between Parental Depression and Neural Reactivity to Rewards and Losses in Offspring

“…We have previously failed to find effects of paternal depression on the FN and other early markers of emotional processing biases in children (Kujawa et al, 2014; Kujawa et al, 2012; Kujawa et al, in press), which is consistent with smaller effects of paternal compared to maternal psychopathology on internalizing symptoms in young offspring (Connell & Goodman, 2002). It has been hypothesized that greater involvement by mothers in early parenting could account for these effects (Connell & Goodman, 2002), and the current results provide empirical evidence that maternal parenting may buffer the negative effects of paternal depression on risk for depression in offspring.…”

Emotion Recognition in Children With Down Syndrome: Influence of Emotion Label and Expression Intensity

“…Given the role of one's own emotional experiences, and that of close family members, on emotion recognition abilities (e.g. Kujawa et al, 2014;Loi, Vaidya & Paradiso, 2013;Whittington & Holland, 2011), taking into account the broader environmental context of the child may also be informative.…”

The Relationship Among Caregiver Depressive Symptoms, Parenting Behavior, and Family-Centered Care

“…Strong evidence now exists from the science of early brain and child development that exposure to adversities in early childhood, such as maternal depression, leads to alterations in the brain connectivity with implications for lifelong health and development (Bellis, Lowey, Leckenby, Hughes, & Harrison, 2014;Callender, Olson, Choe, & Sameroff, 2012;Cambron, Gringeri, & Vogel-Ferguson, 2014;Cho, Kim, Lim, Lee, & Shin, 2015;Duncan, Ziol-Guest, & Kalil, 2010; Escueta, Whetten, Ostermann, O'Donnell, & Positive Outcomes for Orphans Research, 2014;Ferro & Boyle, 2015;Jensen, Dumontheil, & Barker, 2014;Kalmakis & Chandler, 2014;Kujawa et al, 2014;McCurdy, Gorman, Kisler, & Metallinos-Katsaras, 2014;Mersky, Topitzes, & Reynolds, 2013;Montgomery, Cutuli, Evans-Chase, Treglia, & Culhane, 2013;NICHD Early Child Care Research Network, 1999;Oettinger & Paulson, 2014;Reiser, McMillan, Wright, & Asmundson, 2014;Roos et al, 2013;Shonkoff, Richter, van der Gaag, & Bhutta, 2012;Slykerman et al, 2015;Tissot et al, 2014;Visser et al, 2014). This literature provides evergrowing support for the detrimental effects of parental depression on physical and mental health, Another known barrier to routine screening is a lack of options to offer mothers if depression is suspected.…”