Attachment and preschool children's understanding of maternal versus non-maternal psychological states

21 page(s

Enhancing partner empathy and support in the postnatal period : impact of a communication and empathy resource on sub-optimal communicators

Postnatal distress in women is often associated with poor partner support or understanding, often as a result of poor couple communication. Previous research showed positive findings for an innovative resource aimed to ameliorate these factors in community couples – ‘The Great Parents’ Quiz” (GPQ). This current study compared the impact of this resource on couples classified as either ‘good communicators’ or ‘sub-optimal communicators’ prior to receiving the GPQ. A between and within research design was used. Parents of infants and toddlers (N = 167) were randomly allocated to either receiving the GPQ or not (Controls). Phone interviews were conducted with the women 2 weeks and 6 weeks after receiving the GPQ, or just at 6 weeks for Control participants. Both good and sub-optimal communicators showed equivalent benefits from receiving the GPQ. Around 81% of sub-optimal communicators reported that one or other of the couple had learnt something new about their partner, and 66% of the women considered that their partner had a better understanding of how she was experiencing motherhood. In total, 28% of sub-optimal communicators reported new supportive behaviour as a result of doing the GPQ, and this tended to be proactive as opposed to couples in the Control condition who reported changes as a result of intolerable stress. Both good and sub-optimal communicators report clinically significant benefits from doing the GPQ, and these benefits are more than those obtained from the usual pamphlets giving advice to couples to ‘talk and listen’ to each other

Maternal depression and its effect on preschooler's attachment representations

1 page(s

Maternal state of mind regarding attachment predicts persistence of postnatal depression in the preschool years

Background: This prospective study aimed to determine predictors of persistent postnatal depression between child age one and four years, in a sample of mothers already identified as having a high incidence of postnatal depression at four months after birth and a relatively high prevalence of symptoms of depression at child age one year. Methods: Data (self-report questionnaires and interview) were initially collected from 127 mothers of first-born infants recruited from a parent-craft hospital at four months postpartum. Women again completed questionnaires and interviews one year after the birth. Persistence of depression between one and four years was assessed by symptom checklists and diagnostic interview. Results: Ninety-two mothers (72%) of the original sample participated at four years. Eleven women who had first onset of depression after one year were excluded from analyses. Thirty-eight percent of the remaining sample (56% of those diagnosed with depression at 4 months) reported ongoing depression between one and four years. Severity of depressive symptoms at four months and maternal state of mind regarding attachment (assessed at 1 year) were significant predictors of persistent depression. Women with an insecure state of mind regarding attachment at one year were seven times more likely to report ongoing depression. Conclusions: Findings confirm that postnatal depression is ongoing for many women and that vulnerability to persistent depression needs to be viewed in the context of inter-generational family problems. Severity of symptoms at four months postpartum can be used to identify those mothers most at risk of persistent depression.5 page(s

Maternal depression: relations with maternal caregiving representations and emotional availability during the preschool years

This longitudinal study aimed to determine whether maternal depression was related to caregiving behavior and further whether this relationship was mediated and/or moderated by maternal caregiving representations. Ninety-two mothers were assessed for symptoms of depression when their children were 4, 12, and 15 months, and later at 4 years of age. At 4 years of age, mothers' caregiving representations of their child and their relationship were examined using the Parent Development Interview (PDI), and aspects of maternal behaviors were rated during mother-child play interactions using the Emotional Availability Scales (EA). The experience of chronic maternal depression was related to lower levels of maternal sensitivity, and this association was mediated by mothers' impaired capacity to take their child's perspective. The link between depression and lower maternal sensitivity was also moderated by perspective taking, indicating that poor perspective taking had a negative impact on sensitivity only for chronically depressed mothers. In conclusion, the current study demonstrated that mothers' representational models are affected by cognitive distortions associated with depression, and these distortions interfere with a mother's capacity to interact sensitively with her child.18 page(s

The effect of maternal depression and marital adjustment on young children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems

Background: The present study aimed to clarify the circumstances under which maternal depression is associated with adverse outcomes in pre-school-aged children, and to explore the additional impact of the marital relationship in a socio-economically low-risk sample. Methods: Ninety-two mothers recruited into a longitudinal study were assessed for symptoms of depression when their children were 4, 12 and 15 months, and later at 4 years of age. At 4 years of age, mothers were also asked to report on marital adjustment. Mothers, fathers and pre-school teachers were asked to report on children's internalizing and externalizing behaviour problems. Results: Children exposed to chronic maternal depression were rated by their parents as significantly more problematic on internalizing and externalizing behaviours. This association was not mediated or moderated by low marital satisfaction. No parent-reported effects were evident for children exposed to transient depression. Ten per cent of the children had internalizing scores in the clinical range, and 7% had externalizing scores in the clinical range. Almost all of the children with clinically elevated scores had been exposed to chronic maternal depression. Teacher reports of internalizing behaviours corroborated parent reports; however, teachers tended to report significantly lower levels of behaviour problems. Although there was a tendency for teachers to rate children exposed to any depression as more problematic on internalizing behaviours the subgroup differences were not significant. Conclusions: Findings confirm that depression chronicity is important in determining child behavioural outcomes and that depression effects cannot be accounted for by low marital adjustment. Results are discussed with reference to transmission of risk modelsand treatment implications are considered."10 page(s

Errors in scoring the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale

This study examined the errors made by clinicians when scoring the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). This measure has items with reverse scoring that may increase the likelihood of errors being made. Four hundred ninety-six EPDS forms from client files in four clinical services were examined for item scoring errors and addition errors. Clinicians (N = 22) from the four services were also surveyed as to what rate of errors they expected the study would find and what rate would be unacceptable. Errors of either type were present in between 13.4 and 28.9 % of forms across the four sites. These error rates were greater than most of the surveyed clinicians expected and were at a level that was considered by most to be problematic. However, the error rates did not have a meaningful impact on the rates of women scoring above various cutoff scores often used with the EPDS. The EPDS is often incorrectly scored by practitioners at a level that is of concern to clinicians of these services. Clinical teams should adopt the use of scoring templates and a double adding-up procedure when using measures such as the EPDS as a way that may reduce such scoring errors

The Impact of Postnatal Depression on Child Cognitive Functioning at Four Years

13 page(s