Developmental Pathway to Depression in Children of Mothers with Postpartum Depression

Insecure attachment in infancy and low ego resilience predict adolescent depression.

Exposure to postnatal maternal depression is associated with increased risk for adolescent depression in offspring. Researchers in the U.K. prospectively examined the developmental risk pathway to adolescent depression in children of mothers with postnatal depression. They screened a community sample of 702 mothers with healthy full-term infants for depression at 6 weeks postpartum and conducted psychiatric interviews in probable cases and in a random sample of nondepressed mothers. Fifty-eight depressed mothers and 42 nondepressed mothers were recruited. Children were assessed for infant attachment at age 18 months, ego resilience at ages 5 and 8 years, and psychiatric diagnoses at ages 13 and 16 years (93% were assessed at age 16 years).

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Reviewing Author

Martin T. Stein, MD

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardPearson Neuroscience Advisory Board

Speaker’s bureauAmerican Academy of Pediatrics

RoyaltiesElsevier, Inc.

Editorial boardsJournal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics