Attentional biases for negative stimuli have been observed in school-age and adolescent children of depressed mothers and may reflect a vulnerability to depression. The direction of these biases and whether they can be identified in early childhood remains unclear. The current study examined attentional biases in 5-7-year-old children of depressed and non-depressed mothers. Following a mood ind...

This study examined the association of postpartum depression with specific infant characteristics. Twenty-five diagnosed depressed and 25 nondepressed mothers and their 2-month-old infants participated in the study. The mothers completed measures of infant temperament and difficulty associated with infant care, and the infants were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Group c...

Research has consistently documented that depressed individuals process information in a negatively biased manner. There is little evidence, however, concerning whether these biases represent risk factors for depression, as is hypothesized by cognitive models. In the present study we investigated whether a particular cognitive bias observed in currently depressed individuals, the tendency to in...

OBJECTIVE There is a high prevalence of depression in south Asian women. We aimed to examine the association between antenatal depression and low birthweight (LBW) in infants in a rural community in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. METHOD A total of 143 physically healthy mothers with ICD-10 depression in the third trimester of pregnancy and 147 non-depressed mothers of similar gestation were followed f...

The purpose of this study is to examine the claim that an infant's ability to respond appropriately to an emotional situation varies according to the emotional state of the mother. Surprise expressions in mother and child were examined both in terms of paralinguistic aspects of surprise vocalizations as well as facial expressions. Seventy-two infants and their mothers (mean age=8 months, range=...

The effect of maternal depression on the trajectories of cognitive development was studied in 26 infants with depressed mothers as compared to a group of 24 infants with non-depressed mothers. The infants were tested on Mullen Scales of Early Learning when they were 6, 12 and 18 months old. Mothers reported their depressive symptoms over the follow ups. The study also investigated if there were...

BACKGROUND Maternal depression has a number of adverse effects on children. Although most depression is treated in primary care, assessment or support is rarely given to children of depressed mothers on a routine basis. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to examine the needs of children, aged 5-11 years, whose mothers are being treated for depression in primary care. METHODS Mothers being prescribed ant...

Background: Attachment is defined as lasting emotional connectedness. Attachment experiences are one of the basic ingredients in the complexly determined relationship between early experiences of parental care, personality growth and behavior. Attachment theory has been major aids in helping researchers understand how the quality of early and continuing close relationships affect children’s and...

Five-month-old infants of nondepressed and clinically depressed mothers were habituated to either a face with a neutral expression or the same face with a smile. Infants of nondepressed mothers subsequently discriminated between neutral and smiling facial expressions, whereas infants of clinically depressed mothers failed to make the same discrimination.