Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-26T21:04:13.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Postpartum depression and child development: An investigation of mothers and fathers as sources of risk and resilience

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2009

Michelle G. Carro ,
Kathryn E. Grant ,
Ian H. Gotlib  and
Bruce E. Compas
Michelle G. Carro
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
Kathryn E. Grant
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
Ian H. Gotlib*
Affiliation:
Northwestern University
Bruce E. Compas*
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Ian H. Gotlib, Department of Psychology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208;
Bruce E. Compas, Department of Psychology, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT 05405.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined maternal and paternal characteristics at 1 month postpartum as risk and protective factors for children's internalizing and externalizing problems at 2–3 years of age. In a sample of 70 couples and their children, fathers' depressive symptoms at 1 month postpartum predicted children's internalizing and externalizing problems at 2–3 years of age, and the interaction of fathers' and mothers' depressive symptoms predicted subsequent internalizing problems. Mothers' postpartum symptoms did not predict either type of children's behavior problems at age 2–3. When entered in the regression equations, mothers' depressive symptoms when the children were age 2–3 years accounted for all of the effects of paternal and maternal postpartum depressive symptoms. No evidence was found for the protective effects of marital satisfaction or social support, or for low levels of depressive symptoms in a spouse. We highlight directions for future risk and resilience research related to parental postpartum depression.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 5 , Issue 4 , Fall 1993 , pp. 567 - 579
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M., Edelbrock, C. S., & Howell, C. T. (1987). Empirically-based assessment of the behavioral/emotional problems of 2–3-year-old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 15, 629–650.Google Scholar
Avison, W. R., Noh, S., & Speechly, K. N. (1991). Parents as caregivers: Caring for children with health problems. Advances in Medical Sociology, 2, 65–94.Google Scholar
Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Garbin, M. G. (1988). Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation. Clinical Psychology Review, 8, 77–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.Google Scholar
Bleuler, M. (1984). Different forms of childhood stress and patterns of adult psychiatric outcome. In Watt, N. F., Anthony, E. J., & Rolf, J. E. (Eds.), Children at risk for schizophrenia (pp. 537–542). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Brody, G. H., & Forehand, R. (1986). Maternal perceptions of child maladjustment as a function of the combined influence of child behavior and maternal depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 237–240.Google Scholar
Bumberry, W., Oliver, J. M., & McClure, J. N. (1978). Validation of the Beck Depression Inventory in a university population using psychiatric estimate as the criterion. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 46, 150–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caplan, H. L., Cogill, S. R., Alexandra, H., Mordecai Robson, K., Katz, R., & Kumar, R. (1989). Maternal depression and the emotional development of the child. British Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 818–822.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Aber, J. L. (1986). Early precursors of later depression: An organizational perspective. In Lipsitt, L. P. & Rovee-Collier, C. (Eds.), Advances in infancy research (Vol. 4, pp. 87–137). Norwood, NJ: Ablex.Google Scholar
Cohen, S., Kamarck, T., & Mermelstein, P. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohn, J. F., Campbell, S. B., Matias, R., & Hopkins, J. (1990). Face-to-face interactions of postpartum depressed and nondepressed mother-infant pairs at 2 months. Developmental Psychology, 26, 15–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, J. F., & Tronick, E. (1989). Specificity of infants' response to mothers' affective behavior. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28, 242–248.Google Scholar
Conrad, M., & Hammen, C. (1989). Role of maternal depression in perceptions of child maladjustment. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57, 663–667.Google Scholar
Field, T. M. (1984). Early interactions between infants and their postpartum depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and Development, 7, 517–522.Google Scholar
Field, T. M., Healy, B., Goldstein, S., Perry, S., Bendell, D., Schanberg, S., Zimmerman, E. A., & Kuhn, C. (1988). Infants of depressed mothers show “depressed” behavior even with nondepressed adults. Child Development, 59, 1569–1579.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Field, T., Healy, B., & LeBlanc, W. G. (1989). Sharing and synchrony of behavior states and heart rate in nondepressed versus depressed mother-infant interactions. Infant Behavior and Development, 12, 357–376.Google Scholar
Field, T. M., Sandberg, D., Garcia, R., Vega-Lahr, N., Goldstein, S., & Guy, L. (1985). Pregnancy problems, postpartum depression, and early mother-infant interactions. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1152–1156.Google Scholar
Fisher, L., Kokes, R. F., Cole, R. E., Perkins, P. M., & Wynne, L. C. (1987). Competent children at risk: A study of well-functioning offspring of disturbed parents. In Anthony, E. J. & Cohler, B. J. (Eds.), The invulnerable child (pp. 221–228). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Fleming, A. S., Ruble, D. N., Flett, G. L., & Shaul, D. L. (1988). Postpartum adjustment in first-time mothers: Relations between mood, maternal attitudes, and mother-infant interactions. Developmental Psychology, 24, 71–81.Google Scholar
Gelfand, D. M., & Teti, D. M. (1990). The effects of maternal depression on children. Clinical Psychology Review, 10, 329–354.Google Scholar
Gotlib, I. H., & Cane, D. B. (1989). Self-report assessment of depression and anxiety. In Kendall, P. C. & Watson, D. (Eds.), Anxiety and depression: Distinctive and overlapping features (pp. 131–169). Orlando, FL: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Gotlib, I. H., Whiffen, V. E., Wallace, P., & Mount, J. (1991). A prospective investigation of postpartum depression: Factors involved in onset and recovery. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 122–132.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammen, C. (1991). Depression runs in families: The social context of risk and resilience in children of depressed mothers. New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Hoffman, Y., & Drotar, D. (1991). The impact of postpartum depressed mood on mother-infant interaction: Like mother like baby? Infant Mental Health Journal, 12, 65–80.Google Scholar
Jacob, T., & Leonard, K. (1986). Psychosocial functioning in children of alcoholic fathers, depressed fathers and control fathers. Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 47, 373–380.Google Scholar
Jacobson, N. S., & Moore, D. (1981). Spouses as observers of the events in their relationship. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 269–277.Google Scholar
Klein, D. N., Clark, D. C., Dansky, L., & Margolis, E. T. (1988). Dysthymia in the offspring of parents with primary unipolar affective disorder. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 97, 265–274.Google Scholar
Lee, C. M., & Gotlib, I. H. (1990). Family disruption, parental availability, and child adjustment: An in-tegrative review. In Prinz, R. J. (Ed.), Advances in the behavioral assessment of families. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Livingwood, A. B., Daen, P., & Smith, B. D. (1983). The depressed mother as a source of stimulation for her infant. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 39, 369–375.Google Scholar
Masten, A. S., Best, K. M., & Garmezy, N. (1990). Resilience and development: Contributions from the study of children who overcome adversity. Development and Psychopalhology, 2, 425–444.Google Scholar
O'Hara, M. W. (1986). Social support, life events, and depression during pregnancy and puerperium. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 569–573.Google Scholar
Oliver, J. M., & Simmons, M. E. (1984). Depression as measured by the DSM-III and the Beck Depression Inventory in an unselected adult population. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 892–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orvaschel, H., Walsh-Allis, G., & Ye, W. (1988). Psychopathology in children of parents with recurrent depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 17–28.Google Scholar
Phares, V., & Compas, B. E. (1992). The role of fathers in child and adolescent psychopathology: Make room for daddy. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 1–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phares, V., Compas, B. E., & Howell, D. C. (1989). Perspectives on child behavior problems: Comparisons of children's self-reports with parent and teacher reports. Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1, 68–71.Google Scholar
Philipps, L. C., & O'Hara, M. W. (1991). Prospective study of postpartum depression: 4 ½-Year follow-up of women and children. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 100, 151–155.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. (1990). Commentary: Some focus and process considerations regarding effects of parental depression on children. Developmental Psychology, 26, 60–67.Google Scholar
Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28.Google Scholar
Turner, J., Frankel, G., & Levin, D. (1983). Social support: Conceptualization, measurement, and implications for mental health. In Greenley, J. (Ed.), Research in community and mental health (Vol. 3, pp. 67–111). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M., Paykel, E. S., & Klerman, G. L. (1972). The depressed woman as a mother. Social Psychiatry, 7, 98–108.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E. (1990). Maternal depressed mood and perceptions of child temperament. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 151, 329–339.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E. (1992). Is postpartum depression a distinct diagnosis? Clinical Psychology Review, 12, 485–508.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E., & Gotlib, I. H. (1992a). Interactions of depressed mothers with their two- and seven-month-old infants. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E., & Gotlib, I. H. (1992b). The effects of postpartum depression on infant cognitive and socio-emotional development. Unpublished manuscript.Google Scholar
Whiffen, V. E., & Gotlib, I. H. (1993). Comparison of postpartum and nonpostpartum depression: Clinical presentation, psychiatric history, and psychosocial functioning. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61, 485–494.Google Scholar