Subclinical levels of maternal depression and infant sensitivity to social contingency

Skotheim, Siv; Braarud, Hanne Cecilie; Høie, Kjartan; Markhus, Maria Wik; Kjellevold, Marian; Graff, Ingvild Eide; Berle, Jan Øystein; Stormark, Kjell Morten

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2013.03.009

Cited by 21 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…However, few studies have investigated the immediate, transactional behavioral and affective responses of these mothers and their toddlers during dyadic interactions. As an exception, Skotheim et al (2013) found that three-month-old infants of sub-clinically depressed mothers demonstrated decreased affective sensitivity to maternal social contingency, suggesting that even subclinical symptoms of depression may influence children’s responses to their mothers. However, this study did not examine mothers’ behavior with their infants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bidirectional Effects of Positive Affect, Warmth, and Interactions Between Mothers With and Without Symptoms of Depression and Their Toddlers

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Maternal depression has negative implications for parenting and child outcomes, but it is also important to understand the daily transactional interactions that occur between mothers varying in symptoms of depression and their children. The current study aimed to examine immediate bidirectional effects between maternal warmth and positive affect and toddler affect in a sample of mothers varying in symptoms of depression. Ninety-one mothers and their 24-month-old toddlers completed a laboratory free-play/clean-up task. Mothers rated their symptoms of depression using the CES-D, and maternal warmth and positive affect and toddler positive and negative affect were observationally coded from a free-play and clean-up laboratory task. Sequential analyses indicated that mothers with no or mild symptoms of depression exhibited mutual positive affect with their children, but mothers with more severe symptoms of depression did not. Mothers with higher symptoms of depression displayed a decrease in warmth concurrent with toddlers’ positive affect. Further, unlike dyads in which mothers had higher symptoms of depression, dyads of mothers with lower symptoms appeared to exhibit some covariation in positive affect across the episode. These results provide evidence that even in non-clinical samples, affective manifestations of mothers’ subthreshold levels of depression may have negative immediate effects on toddlers’ emotions, and that mothers without symptoms of depression may have more reciprocal affective exchanges with their toddlers.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Bidirectional Effects of Positive Affect, Warmth, and Interactions Between Mothers With and Without Symptoms of Depression and Their Toddlers

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As a consequence, infants of depressed mothers are more likely to express difficulties related to emotional and social regulation during infancy, and difficulties later in childhood, such as cognitive and socio-emotional delay [7]. Moreover, even sub-clinical levels of maternal depression may affect young infants’ expectations of contingent maternal behaviour [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low Omega-3 Index in Pregnancy Is a Possible Biological Risk Factor for Postpartum Depression

Markhus

Skotheim

Graff³

et al. 2013

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundDepression is a common disorder affecting 10–15% women in the postpartum period. Postpartum depression can disrupt early mother-infant interaction, and constitutes a risk factor for early child development. Recently, attention has been drawn to the hypothesis that a low intake of seafood in pregnancy can be a risk factor for postpartum depression. Seafood is a unique dietary source of the marine omega-3 fatty acids and is a natural part of a healthy balanced diet that is especially important during pregnancy.MethodsIn a community based prospective cohort in a municipality in Western Norway, we investigated both nutritional and psychological risk factors for postpartum depression. The source population was all women who were pregnant within the period November 2009 - June 2011. The fatty acid status in red blood cells was assessed in the 28th gestation week and participants were screened for postpartum depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) three months after delivery. The aim of the present study was to investigate if a low omega-3 index in pregnancy is a possible risk factor for postpartum depression.ResultsIn a simple regression model, the omega-3 index was associated with the EPDS score in a nonlinear inverse manner with an R square of 19. Thus, the low omega-3 index explained 19% of the variance in the EPDS score. The DPA content, DHA content, omega-3 index, omega-3/omega-6 ratio, total HUFA score, and the omega-3 HUFA score were all inversely correlated with the EPDS score. The EPDS scores of participants in the lowest omega-3 index quartile were significantly different to the three other omega-3 index quartiles.ConclusionIn this study population, a low omega-3 index in late pregnancy was associated with higher depression score three months postpartum.

show abstract

“…These conditions are associated with preterm delivery, low infant birth weight, impaired mother–child relationship, adverse cognitive development in the infant, and child neglect . Even subclinical levels of postpartum depression may affect the mother–infant interaction …”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Depression and anxiety in women with epilepsy during pregnancy and after delivery: A prospective population‐based cohort study on frequency, risk factors, medication, and prognosis

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

SUMMARYObjective: To assess incidence, prevalence, risk factors, and prognosis of peripartum depression and anxiety in a prospective study of women with epilepsy. Method: Pregnancies in women with epilepsy (n = 706) were compared to pregnancies in all women without epilepsy (n = 106 511) including women with specified nonepileptic chronic diseases (n = 8,372) in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study. The database was linked to the Medical Birth Registry of Norway. Depression and anxiety were assessed with validated questionnaires five times from the second trimester to 36 months after delivery. Blood was drawn for analysis of antiepileptic drug (AED) concentrations. Results: Women with epilepsy more often had peripartum depression (26.7%) or anxiety (22.4%) than women without epilepsy (18.9% and 14.8%, respectively, p < 0.001 for both comparisons) and women with other chronic diseases (23.1% and 18.4%, respectively, p = 0.03 and 0.01). Women using AEDs during pregnancy were especially at risk regardless of AED type. The risk further increased with the use of multiple AEDs and with high doses and/or plasma levels. Risk factors associated with peripartum depression and/or anxiety in the epilepsy cohort were high seizure frequency, a history of physical and/or sexual abuse, adverse socioeconomic factors, previous loss of a child, AED use, unplanned pregnancy, and prepregnancy depression and/or anxiety. The recovery rate 3 years after delivery was lower for women with epilepsy with a history of depression/anxiety or physical/sexual abuse than for women without epilepsy. Depressed women with epilepsy were less frequently treated with antidepressive drugs during pregnancy than women without epilepsy. Significance: Women with epilepsy frequently have depression and anxiety during and after pregnancy. Patients at risk should be identified before delivery as depressive symptoms could be undertreated in this group.

show abstract

Subclinical levels of maternal depression and infant sensitivity to social contingency

Cited by 21 publications

References 21 publications

Bidirectional Effects of Positive Affect, Warmth, and Interactions Between Mothers With and Without Symptoms of Depression and Their Toddlers

Bidirectional Effects of Positive Affect, Warmth, and Interactions Between Mothers With and Without Symptoms of Depression and Their Toddlers

Low Omega-3 Index in Pregnancy Is a Possible Biological Risk Factor for Postpartum Depression

Depression and anxiety in women with epilepsy during pregnancy and after delivery: A prospective population‐based cohort study on frequency, risk factors, medication, and prognosis

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About