Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Early Hum Dev. 2021 May;156:105346. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2021.105346. Epub 2021 Mar 13.
Perinatal depression has been associated with a range of adverse outcomes for children's neurodevelopment.
This study sought to examine the impact of maternal perinatal depression on 2-year-olds' social-emotional, cognitive, language, and adaptive behavioural development, using data collected at the fifth timepoint of a prospective longitudinal study, which followed participants from pregnancy through to toddlerhood.
61 women and their children (M age = 26 months, SD = 1.83; 35 boys and 26 girls), of the original cohort of 98, who had been recruited during pregnancy, and stratified into three participant groups: 1. Depressed (those with a clinical diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder [MDD]); 2. History (currently euthymic with a previous MDD episode); 3. Control (no history of psychiatric disorder).
Depression severity was assessed using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D), and children's developmental outcomes were measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd Edition (BSID-III).
No direct associations between mothers' depression and children's social-emotional, cognitive or language development were observed. However, an unexpected positive association between maternal depression and children's social adaptive behaviour was found, which conferred an advantage on children whose mothers had suffered from depression.
The current findings contribute to the literature examining the impact of perinatal depression on early childhood outcomes. The unexpected positive association found between maternal depression and children's adaptive behaviour should prompt further research examining the adaptive resilience of young children exposed to maternal depression. This is discussed in the context of differential-susceptibility theory.
围产期抑郁与儿童神经发育的一系列不良后果有关。
本研究旨在通过对一项前瞻性纵向研究的第五个时间点收集的数据，来检验产妇围产期抑郁对 2 岁儿童社会情感、认知、语言和适应行为发展的影响。该研究从孕期开始一直跟踪参与者到幼儿期。
61 名女性及其子女（M 年龄=26 个月，SD=1.83；35 名男孩和 26 名女孩），均来自最初的 98 名参与者队列，他们在孕期被招募，并分为三组：1.抑郁组（患有重性抑郁障碍[MDD]的临床诊断）；2.病史组（目前病情稳定，有过 MDD 发作史）；3.对照组（无精神疾病史）。
没有发现母亲抑郁与儿童社会情感、认知或语言发展之间存在直接关联。然而，我们发现了一个意想不到的积极关联，即母亲的抑郁与儿童的社会适应行为有关，这对那些母亲曾患有抑郁的儿童有利。
目前的研究结果丰富了围产期抑郁对幼儿期结局影响的文献。我们发现了一个意想不到的积极关联，即母亲的抑郁与儿童的适应行为之间的关联，这提示我们需要进一步研究那些在母亲抑郁环境下成长的幼儿的适应弹性。这在差异易感性理论的背景下进行了讨论。
