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There are two studies being conducted in London on children
in later childhood. Both of these studies, have looked at
children aged four. A comprehensive assessment of mental
development(1), found that there were significant
delays in development, particularly for boys of depressed
mothers. It seemed to be a very specific effect of the mother
having been depressed during those early months, because
if account is taken of depression occurring beyond that
first year, there was no adverse effect at all on the child's
development.
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| Both these samples were from areas of London:
and one, in particular, was in a deprived area. It is interesting
to note that when we look at other samples – from our own
area in Cambridge, for example – and one in Germany, we don't
find these long lasting damaging effects of depression on
the child's cognitive development. It seems that good circumstances
can help buffer any negative impact. When we think about possible
implications of depression for child cognitive development,
therefore, we need to take into account the kind of environment
the family has. We should be particularly aware if the family
is from very deprived circumstances, as the risks are much
greater for those children. |
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there
is a consistent body of evidence to show that where the mother
has been postnatally depressed, there is an increased risk
of additional behaviour problems in the child. |
Social and emotional development has also been studied quite
extensively. One of the main areas of focus is the quality
of the child's attachment to the mother. Carla Martins and
Elizabeth Gaffin(2) recently did a review of all
the studies that had looked at attachment and postnatal depression.
Although not all studies found the problem of insecure
attachment to the same extent, by and large there was a
significant risk that the child would be insecurely attached
if the mother had experienced depression in the first six
months or so. One study examined behaviour problems and
found a raised rate of difficulties (including sleep disturbance,
temper tantrums, eating and separation problems) in children
at 18 months whose mothers had been depressed(3).
Alan Stein and colleagues(4) found that the quality
of mother-infant interaction in the home continued to be
difficult at 19 months.
In all the studies I have talked about these kinds of effects
occur, even though, in the majority of cases, the mothers
had recovered from the depression normally within the first
nine months or so. These are persistent effects we are seeing
in the child, despite the mother's recovery. If we look
at longer-term child development – adjustment at school,
or parental reports of child behaviour in the home – again
there is a consistent body of evidence to show that where
the mother has been postnatally depressed, there is an increased
risk of additional behaviour problems in the child. In school,
certainly in our own study, it does seem to be linked to
the child's sex(5). Boys, particularly working-class
boys, whose mothers had been postnatally depressed were
perceived by their teachers to be quite difficult children,
whereas the girls of depressed mothers were seen to be rather
well-adjusted, diligent, persistent, compliant children.
Nevertheless, these girls were described as difficult by
their mothers at home. This may have something to do with
changing behaviour in different circumstances or it may
be something to do with teachers' expectations about boys'
and girls' behaviour. It was notable in this sample that
the association between behavioural problems and postnatal
depression still held, even when recent maternal depression
and parental conflict were taken into account.
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