Malcolm Henry
Children whose mothers had rising levels of depression during pregnancy appear to have an increased risk of behavioral problems, researchers say.
“Our findings suggest that increases in mother’s symptoms of depression from preconception to postpartum contribute to children’s lower attention and behavioral control, which can raise the risk of problems across the life span,” said study lead author Gabrielle Rinne, a psychology graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles.
“Parents should know, however, that this can be addressed through early childhood intervention,” Rinne said in a university news release.
The seven-year study included 125 U.S. women and their children who were followed from before pregnancy until the children were 5 years old. Most of the women were Black or Hispanic and from low-income families.
The women were interviewed four times about their symptoms of depression: once before becoming pregnant, twice during pregnancy and again about three months after their baby’s birth.
When their children were 4 years old, the mothers were asked to describe their child’s temperament and behavior, particularly episodes of emotional distress and their ability to regulate their emotions.
At age 5, the children were given a computer task to assess their ability to concentrate.
Children of mothers whose depression increased during pregnancy did worse on the task than children whose mothers had consistently low symptoms of depression.
Children whose mothers had consistently high depression and those whose mothers had consistently low depression had similar results on the task, according to the study. The findings were published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders.
It’s the first to show that changes in mothers’ levels of depression over time may affect their young children’s behavior and emotional well-being, the researchers said.
“This study suggests that a pattern of increasing depression may adversely affect children,” said study co-author Christine Dunkel Schetter, a professor of psychology and psychiatry at UCLA.
She noted, however, that not all of these kids will experience behavioral problems later, only that their risk may be higher. The study only found an association, and not a cause-and-effect link.
“Moms who experience depression or stress at multiple times should know the effects this can have on young children,” Dunkel Schetter said in the release. “They can seek evaluation and treatment from a doctor or mental health professional for their children and themselves.”
More information
For more on depression during pregnancy, see the American Pregnancy Association.
SOURCE: University of California, Los Angeles, news release, May 31, 2022
Hello There. I found your weblog using msn. That is an extremely neatly written article. I will be sure to bookmark it and return to learn extra of your helpful information. Thank you for the post. I will definitely return.
Hi there, You’ve done an incredible job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they’ll be benefited from this web site.
I am often to blogging and i really appreciate your content. The article has really peaks my interest. I am going to bookmark your site and keep checking for new information.
Just wanna tell that this is very useful, Thanks for taking your time to write this.
I think this is a real great article.Really looking forward to read more. Much obliged.
Hi there, I discovered your web site by way of Google even as looking for a similar matter, your site got here up, it seems good. I’ve bookmarked it in my google bookmarks.
I’ve learn several good stuff here. Certainly price bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how so much attempt you put to create this type of magnificent informative website.
I am glad to be a visitant of this arrant weblog! , regards for this rare information! .
Great post and straight to the point. I am not sure if this is really the best place to ask but do you guys have any ideea where to employ some professional writers? Thx 🙂
I like your writing style truly enjoying this web site.
When I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new feedback are added- checkbox and now every time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the same comment. Is there any method you possibly can take away me from that service? Thanks!
hi!,I really like your writing so a lot! share we communicate extra about your post on AOL? I require a specialist on this house to solve my problem. May be that’s you! Taking a look ahead to see you.
I have been surfing on-line more than 3 hours nowadays, yet I never discovered any fascinating article like yours. It is pretty price sufficient for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made just right content material as you did, the net will probably be much more helpful than ever before. “Dignity is not negotiable. Dignity is the honor of the family.” by Vartan Gregorian.
It’s a shame you don’t have a donate button! I’d most certainly donate to this superb blog! I suppose for now i’ll settle for book-marking and adding your RSS feed to my Google account. I look forward to brand new updates and will share this site with my Facebook group. Talk soon!
There are some interesting cut-off dates in this article however I don’t know if I see all of them middle to heart. There’s some validity but I will take hold opinion until I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like more! Added to FeedBurner as nicely
I like this internet site because so much useful material on here : D.
Hey are using WordPress for your blog platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you require any html coding knowledge to make your own blog? Any help would be greatly appreciated!