Browsing by Subject "Maternal depression"
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Item Early maternal employment in context : the role of maternity leave for mother's return to employment, later psychological well-being, and mother-infant interaction(2010-08) Bobbitt, Kaeley Celeste; Huston, Aletha C.; Dix, Theodore H.; Kim, Su YeongWith more than 50 percent of mothers in the workforce by their child’s first birthday, maternity leave’s influence on mothers’ well-being and the mother-infant interaction has implications for millions of employed mothers and their children. In this study, I used data from the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care to examine the relations between variation in maternity leave benefit, length of leave, maternal well-being and mother-infant interaction within the context in which mothers make decisions to return to employment after childbirth. These associations depend on a number of important contextual factors including mothers’ subjective beliefs about the costs of employment, family structure and financial situation, mothers’ separation anxiety, and their commitment to work, all of which have important implications for both family and policy. The financial benefit that mothers use during leave varied positively with their socio-demographic characteristics. Paid leaves were related to shorter leaves and to fewer depressive symptoms, but had no direct relation with parenting stress or sensitivity. Mothers’ beliefs about the costs of employment, family structure and finances moderated the effects of paid leave. No direct association emerged between leave length and either maternal well-being or sensitivity, but interactions between leave length and both separation anxiety and work commitment indicated that long leaves are beneficial for only a sub-group of mothers. Results from this study indicate that individual differences are important in understanding the relations among leave type, leave length, maternal well-being and sensitivity. Consequently, effective maternity leave policy should be flexible to accommodate the varying needs of new mothers.Item Exploring the etiology of adolescent depression : a longitudinal approach to identifying effects of maternal and paternal depression(2013-12) Christopher, Caroline Heaton; Hazen, Nancy LynnAlthough there is evidence that children of depressed parents are far more likely to suffer from depression than other children (Hammen & Brennan, 2003), the majority of research examining links between parents’ depression and adolescent depression has focused on maternal depression, minimizing or ignoring the potential influence of paternal depression. Thus, the goals of the proposed study were 1) to examine both maternal and paternal depressive symptoms in relation to adolescents’ depressive symptoms over time, 2) to explore possible gender differences in how teens are affected by maternal versus paternal depressive symptoms, and 3) to investigate the role of parent-teen relationship quality. This study used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, which includes measures of each parents’ depressive symptoms, taken when children were in 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th grades, and adolescent depressive symptoms measured at grades 5, 6, and 10. Results of path analyses using a cross-lagged panel design revealed that paternal depressive symptoms significantly predicted changes in adolescent depressive symptoms from grade 5 to 6 and 6 to grade 10. Although maternal depressive symptoms were not significantly associated with female adolescents’ depressive symptoms, mothers’ depressive symptoms predicted male adolescents’ depressive symptoms at grade 5. Models revealed a reciprocal influence of female adolescents’ depressive symptoms and paternal depressive symptoms. Furthermore, models of indirect effects suggest that the relationship of maternal depressive symptoms at grade 3 and male teens’ depressive symptoms had an enduring effect on males’ depressive symptoms through grades 6 and 10. This was also found for the association of paternal depressive symptoms and subsequent female teens’ symptoms. Finally, moderation analyses revealed a significant interaction of maternal depressive symptoms and mother-teen relationship quality predicting female teens’ subsequent depressive symptoms such that females who had high-quality relationships with highly depressed mothers were more likely to be depressed themselves, whereas female teens’ depressive symptoms were lowest if they had high quality relationships with mothers who reported low levels of depressive symptoms. The present study highlights the need for systems-based approaches to working with families in which one or more family members experience depressive symptoms.Item Factors associated with breastfeeding self-efficacy: Maternal depression, infant weight gain, and milk-intake(2012-08) Jackson, Shera; Hart, Sybil L.; McCarty, Michael; Kendall-Tackett, KathleenRecent evidence suggests that greater levels of breastfeeding self-efficacy are associated with breastfeeding continuation while lower levels are associated with maternal depression. The present study sought to advance insight into breastfeeding self-efficacy by confirming these findings and exploring whether it differs with infant out outcomes relating to weight gain and milk-intake. METHODS: N = 50 mothers who had initiated breastfeeding at childbirth were seen at 9-16 (M= 12) days postpartum. Women completed a measure of breastfeeding efficacy (Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale, BSES), a depression scale (EPDS), reported on birth weight and degree of exclusivity in breastfeeding since birth. Infants were weighed before and immediately after a breastfeeding session using a clinical electronic scale (Seca 231/232) to obtain a score for Milk-Intake. RESULTS: Hierarchical regression analysis was used to determine the unique contributions of the two main predictors, Milk-Intake and Depression, to Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy above one control measure, Exclusivity of breastfeeding. The analysis revealed Exclusivity of breastfeeding was a trend in predicting breastfeeding self-efficacy, milk-intake predicted self-efficacy until depression was added to the model. Once depression was entered on the last block, breastfeeding exclusivity became significant and milk-intake was reduced to a trend. CONCLUSIONS: Two key findings emerged from this study. First, I discovered an association between breastfeeding efficacy and milk-intake which suggests that a mother’s confidence in her ability to sustain her infant is partially dependent on the actual extent to which she is able to do so. Second, I discovered that if a mother suffers from depression, her confidence in breastfeeding is only weakly related to her infant’s milk-intake.Item Maternal depression and children's adjustment problems : the role of mothers' affective reactivity(2013-12) Moed, Anat; Dix, Theodore H.; Anderson, Edward R; Gershoff, Elizabeth TMothers with depressive symptoms often express more negative emotions than other mothers, react more punitively, and express more frustration (e.g., Belsky, 1984). Paradoxically, mothers with depressive symptoms are also often found to be less, not more, reactive and to express flat rather than negative affect. These mothers are often described as emotionally "flat", unresponsive, and withdrawn (Kochanska, Kuczynski, Radke-Yarrow, & Welsh, 1987). Mothers' depressive symptoms are also associated with problematic parenting, interfering with children's social development (e.g., Goodman et al., 2011). This study investigated the possibility that mothers with depressive symptoms regulate their affect as a coping strategy to minimize distress when facing aversive child behaviors. Using observational and reported longitudinal data from 319 mother-child dyads, we examined how mothers' affective reactivity changes as a function of (a) changes in mothers' depressive symptoms, and (b) changes in children’s aversiveness during the course of the mother-child interaction. Depressive symptoms were associated with mothers' under-reactivity to low aversive child behaviors. Depressive symptoms also predicted rapid increases in mothers' negative reactivity as children's aversiveness increased, and negative over-reactivity to highly aversive child behaviors. Mothers' affective under-reactivity, over-reactivity, and depressive symptoms were all associated with children's adjustment problems over a two-year period. Results suggest that when aversive child behaviors are minimally disturbing, mothers with depressive symptoms minimize child rearing strain by not reacting; when aversive child behaviors are highly disturbing, they do so by resisting and controlling the child. Findings may enable us to understand adaptations that undermine parenting and place children at risk.Item Maternal depressive symptoms and children's behavior problems : peer relations and parenting as mediators(2012-08) Baeva, Sofia; Dix, Theodore H.; Hazen-Swann, Nancy; Anderson, EdwardMothers suffering from depression are likely to engage in poor parenting practices, have children with poorer peer relations and more behavior problems. It is likely that maternal depression follows different trajectories in different mothers. These trajectories may lead to differing child outcomes over time. The current study examined a large sample of mothers and children. Latent class growth analysis (LCGA) was used to demonstrate a four-class depressive symptom model, which included high stable, high decreasing, moderate increasing, and low stable trajectories of depressive symptoms measured using the CES-D instrument. Demographic risk was found to differ across classes, with high stable and high decreasing mothers being classified as more at-risk. Mothers in the high stable depression class were found to be less sensitive, and had children with worse outcomes including negative behaviors with peers, social support from peers, and behavior problems. High decreasing mothers were also less sensitive and had children with equally poor outcomes, even though the mothers recovered from their depressive symptoms by the time their children were 54 months of age. In conclusion, early clinical depressive symptoms were likely to predict poorer child outcomes, and more demographic risk was linked to high early depression scores.Item Mothers accommodating to resolve conflict with their children(2010-05) Day, William Harold, 1978-; Dix, Theodore H.; Jacobvitz, Deborah; Hazen-Swann, NancyMaternal sensitivity is known to have important implications on children’s development. This study examined the sensitivity with which mothers used to elicit compliance from their children. In particular, this study explored the goal-regulation strategy of accommodation. One hundred twenty-nine mother-toddler dyads from a non-clinical sample were observed during a 5-minute ‘clean-up’ activity. Results showed that mothers’ utilized numerous accommodation strategies. Moreover, the use of individual accommodation strategies was associated with maternal depression, mothers’ level of child-orientation, and children’s age.Item Mothers’ depressive symptoms, parenting, and child withdrawal : a dynamic view across early development(2012-05) Yan, Ni, active 21st century; Dix, Theodore H.; Anderson, Edward; Hazen-Swann, NancyWithdrawal in early childhood is a risk factor for the development of many adjustment problems. Mothers’ depressive symptoms may affect the development of withdrawal through complex mechanisms. This study examined the relation of mothers’ depressive symptoms to children’s withdrawal from 24 to 54 months and developmental mechanisms of this relation. Based on data from the NICHD study of Early Child Care, results demonstrate that mothers’ cumulative depressive symptoms from 6 to 24 months predicted children’s withdrawal at 24 months across dyads. From 24 to 54 months, within-dyad increases in mothers’ depressive symptoms predicted within-dyad increases in children’s withdrawal. Finally, low competent parenting was partially responsible for the impact of mothers’ early depressive symptoms on children’s withdrawal. In addition, boys’ withdrawal was more strongly associated with mothers’ depressive symptoms than girls’.