Night waking in 6-month-old infants and maternal depressive symptoms

Abstract

Relations between night waking in infants and depressive symptoms in their mothers at 6 months postpartum were examined using the data from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care. Although more depressive symptoms were only weakly correlated with a higher frequency of infant waking, longer wake times, and more total time awake, the rate of clinically significant depression scores was about double in mothers of chronically waking infants in comparison with mothers whose infants did not awaken during the night. The value of comparing subgroups to elucidate relations identified through correlations is discussed.

Maternal subjective sleep quality and nighttime infant care

“…For example, studies that used sleep diaries, as the present study did, did not find an association between infant care-taking or maternal sleep, and maternal depression during the first postpartum year (Dorheim et al, 2009;Goyal et al 2007;Wolfson et al, 2003). In contrast, studies that found a positive association between the number of infant awakenings and maternal depression severity used retrospective questionnaires to assess infant sleep (Dennis & Ross, 2005;Hiscock & Wake, 2001;Karraker & Young, 2007), with the exception of Posmontier (2008), which used an objective measure of sleep (actigraphy). Two studies that examined the relationship between maternal depression and her infant's sleep at different infant ages found that the two were related at one point but not at another (Swain et al, 1997;Warren et al, 2006), suggesting that the age of the infant might be an important methodological factor to consider.…”

“…There is some evidence that disrupted and insufficient sleep is associated with depressive symptom severity during the third postpartum month (Goyal et al, 2007), but data on the link between maternal sleep quality and depressive symptoms severity during the postpartum period are inconsistent (Dennis & Ross, 2005;Dorheim, Bondevik, Eberhard-Gran, & Bjorvatn, 2009;Karraker & Young, 2007;Posmontier, 2008;Swain, O'Hara, Starr, & Gorman, 1997;Warren, Howe, Simmens, & Dahl, 2006;Wolfson, Crowley, Anwer, & Bassett, 2003).…”

The Effects of Social Support on the Relationship between Infant Sleep and Postnatal Depression

“…Therefore, this data supports the extensive research that has been conducted on the bidirectional relationship between child sleep and PND, emphasising the significance of this relationship and the extent to which it affects parents. However, as shown in past research (Karraker & Young, 2007) it is also possible that a depressed parent is more likely to perceive their child's sleep problem as worse than it is due to their depression, thus an objective measure of "sleep problems" is needed in the future.…”

“…Research has shown (Gialo, Rose & Vittorino, 2011) that parental PND can occur as a result of fatigue caused by lack of sleep. This is attributed to sleep fragmentation and sleep deprivation occurring as a result of the parent tending to their child who is sleeping poorly through the night (Karraker & Young, 2007). Furthermore, past research has found that up to 45% of mothers who seek help for their child's sleep problem score in the clinical range on the EPDS (Smart & Hiscock, 2007).…”

“…It can occur as a result of having a predisposition to mood disorders, anxiety, stress, having a family history of depression (Hiscock & Wake, 2001), low socio economic status (El-Sheikh, Kelly, Buckhalt & Hinnant, 2010) and having lack of health care and social support (Astbury, Brown , Lumley & Small, 1994;Rahman, Iqbal & Harrington, 2003). Furthermore, PND can also occur independently of a predisposition to mental health problems because parents, and in particular mothers, often have to cope with sleep fragmentation and sleep deprivation caused by infant night waking, on top of other life stressors and pressures (Karraker & Young, 2007). Data has shown that up to 45% of mothers who seek formal help in relation to their infant's sleep problems score in the clinical range on the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) (Smart & Hiscock, 2007).…”