Postpartum depression is a highly prevalent disorder that can interfere in the mother-infant relationship. This study aims to evaluate the prevalence of postpartum depression in our sample to compare mother-infant interaction in depressed and non-depressed mothers and to assess the relationship between maternal depression, social support, attachment style, and emotional availability. Participan...

BACKGROUND Previous cross-diagnosis studies of interaction between mothers with severe mental illness and their babies have concluded that mothers with schizophrenia have deficits in interaction, but these studies have not included healthy controls. METHOD In-patients on a mother and baby unit, with diagnoses of schizophrenia (n=15), depressive mood disorders with or without psychosis (n=23),...

Infants as young as 3 months are able to detect depression in their mothers. Depressed mothers are sufficiently different from nondepressed mothers in affect and interaction that the social, emotional, and cognitive functioning of their infants are compromised. This article reviews current findings on the effects of maternal depression and psychiatric illness on infants.

Information-processing biases may contribute to the intergenerational transmission of depression. There is growing evidence that children of depressed mothers exhibit attentional biases for sad faces. However, findings are mixed as to whether this bias reflects preferential attention toward, versus attentional avoidance of, sad faces, suggesting the presence of unmeasured moderators. To address...

BACKGROUND Maternal postpartum depression has an impact on mother-infant interaction. Mothers with depression display less positive affect and sensitivity in interaction with their infants compared to non-depressed mothers. Depressed women also show more signs of distress and difficulties adjusting to their role as mothers than non-depressed women. In addition, depressive mothers are reported t...

BACKGROUND In general, mothers with depression experience more environmental and family risk factors, and lead riskier lifestyles, than mothers who are not depressed. AIMS To test whether the exposure of a child to risk factors associated with mental health adds to the prediction of child psychopathology beyond exposure to maternal depression. METHOD In 7429 mother-offspring pairs participa...

This study was an examination of the possible mechanisms of risk among adolescents (n = 55) exposed to the stress associated with the diagnosis of cancer in a parent. Girls whose mothers had cancer reported significantly more anxious-depressed symptoms than girls whose fathers were ill or boys whose mothers or fathers had cancer. Increased family responsibilities and the use of ruminative copin...

Stress, coping, and depressed mood were examined in a sample of 64 homeless mothers and a comparison group of 59 housed low-income mothers. Homeless mothers reported significantly higher levels of stress and depression, as well as greater use of avoidant and active-cognitive coping strategies, than did the housed mothers. Within-group analyses revealed an association between greater use of avoi...

Children of depressed parents are significantly more likely to develop depression and other mental health disorders than are children of never-depressed parents. Investigations of the physiological mechanisms underlying this elevated risk have generally focused on basal functioning. It is important to note, however, that physiological reactivity or responses to stress are also critical determin...