Levy Michal, Berger Andrea, Egotubov Alisa, Gordon-Hacker Avigail, Sheiner Eyal, Gueron-Sela Noa
Department of Psychology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Be'er Sheva, Israel.
School of Brain Sciences and Cognition, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Res Child Adolesc Psychopathol. 2025 May 19. doi: 10.1007/s10802-025-01332-y.
Depression and ADHD frequently co-occur, presenting unique challenges such as difficulties in executive functioning and reduced quality of life. Both conditions are also associated with less optimal parenting behaviors. Despite the prevalence of this comorbidity, the combined effects of maternal depressive symptoms and ADHD on child development remain underexplored, particularly in early childhood, a critical period marked by heightened brain plasticity and reliance on external regulation. This study examines how maternal depression and ADHD symptoms jointly predict children's emotional and attentional development across the first two years of life. A sample of 156 mothers and children (51% boys) participated in a three-wave longitudinal study from pregnancy to two years postpartum. Maternal ADHD symptoms were reported during pregnancy, while depressive symptoms were reported at pregnancy, three months, and two years postpartum. At two years of age, child depressive symptoms were reported by mothers, and focused attention was observed during a structured play session. Findings revealed that the combination of high maternal ADHD and depressive symptoms in the perinatal period predicted the most significant difficulties in children at two years of age, including elevated depressive symptoms and reduced focused attention. Specifically, maternal depressive symptoms were associated with greater child depressive symptoms and lower focused attention only when maternal ADHD symptoms were elevated. These results highlight the compounding effects of maternal psychopathology on child development, emphasizing the importance of targeted support for children at heightened risk of emotional and cognitive impairments due to parental psychopathology.
抑郁症和注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）经常同时出现，带来了诸如执行功能困难和生活质量下降等独特挑战。这两种情况还都与不太理想的养育行为有关。尽管这种共病情况很普遍，但母亲的抑郁症状和ADHD对儿童发育的综合影响仍未得到充分研究，尤其是在幼儿期，这是一个大脑可塑性增强且依赖外部调节的关键时期。本研究考察了母亲的抑郁和ADHD症状如何共同预测儿童在生命最初两年的情绪和注意力发展。156对母亲和孩子（51%为男孩）的样本参与了一项从孕期到产后两年的三波纵向研究。孕期报告了母亲的ADHD症状，而抑郁症状在孕期、产后三个月和两年时进行报告。在孩子两岁时，由母亲报告孩子的抑郁症状，并在结构化游戏环节中观察其注意力集中情况。研究结果显示，围产期母亲的高ADHD和抑郁症状相结合预示着孩子在两岁时会出现最显著的困难，包括抑郁症状加重和注意力集中程度降低。具体而言，只有当母亲的ADHD症状严重时，母亲的抑郁症状才与孩子更严重的抑郁症状以及更低的注意力集中程度相关。这些结果凸显了母亲精神病理学对儿童发育的复合影响，强调了针对因父母精神病理学而面临更高情绪和认知障碍风险的儿童提供有针对性支持的重要性。
