Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T18:57:29.817Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Preschool children at social risk: Chronicity and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at school and at home

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 October 2008

Lisbeth Alpern  and
Karlen Lyons-Ruth
Lisbeth Alpern
Affiliation:
Boston University
Karlen Lyons-Ruth*
Affiliation:
Harvard Medical School
*
Address reprint requests to: K. Lyons-Ruth, Department of Psychiatry, Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The current study investigated the relationship between previous, recent, or chronic maternal depressive symptoms and subtypes of child behavior problems rated by teachers and mothers among 64 low-income children aged 4–6 years. Sixty-nine percent of mothers with high depressive symptom levels at the preschool assessment had also reported high symptom levels during the child's infancy. Children whose mothers reported depressive symptoms at both ages exhibited significantly elevated rates of hostile behavior problems in the classroom and at home compared to children of never-depressed mothers. Children of mothers who were previously but not currently depressed showed significantly more anxious and withdrawn behavior at school and at home, while children of recently depressed mothers were more hyperactive and demanding. Child cognitive scores and father absence were also related to behavior problems, but these variables did not mediate the independent effects of chronicity and timing of maternal depressive symptoms on the types of child symptoms displayed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 5 , Issue 3 , Summer 1993 , pp. 371 - 387
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., rev.). Washington, DC: Author.Google Scholar
Baldwin, A. L., Cole, R. E., & Baldwin, C. P. (1982). Parental pathology, family interaction and the competence of the child in school. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 47(5, Serial No. 197), 1–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behar, L. B. (1977). The preschool behavior questionnaire. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 5, 265–275.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Behar, L., & Stringfield, S. (1974a). A behavior rating scale for the preschool child. Developmental Psychology, 10(5), 601–610.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Behar, L., & Stringfield, S. (1974b). Manual for the preschool behavior questionnaire. (Available from Dr. Lenore Behar, 1821 Woodburn Road, Durham, NC 27705)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belsky, J., Rovine, M., & Taylor, D. (1984). The Pennsylvania infant and family development project III: The origins of individual differences in infant-mother attachment: Maternal and infant contributions. Child Development, 55, 718–728.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blanz, B., Schmidt, M. H., & Esser, G. (1991). Familial adversities and child psychiatric disorder. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 32, 939–950.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brody, G., & Forehand, R. (1986). Maternal perceptions of child maladjustment as a function of the combined influence of child behavior and maternal depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54, 237–240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, G., & Harris, T. (1975). Social origins of depression: A study of psychiatric disorders in women. New York: The Free Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, S., Cohn, J., Flanagan, C., Popper, S., & Meyers, T. (1992). Course and correlates of postpartum depression during the transition to parenthood. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 29–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1990). The organization and coherence of socio-emotional, cognitive, and representational development. In Thompson, R. (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (pp. 275–382). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider-Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to childhood depression. In Rutter, M., Izard, C., & Read, P. (Eds.), Depression in young people: Clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 71–134). New York: Guilford.Google Scholar
Coghill, S. R., Caplan, H. L., Alexandra, H., Robson, K., & Kumar, R. (1986). Impact of maternal postnatal depression on cognitive development of young children. British Medical Journal, 292, 1165–1167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J., & Cohen, P. (1983). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Cohn, J., Campbell, S., & Matias, R. (1990, 04). Face-to-face interactions of depressed and non-depressed mother-infant pairs at 2, 4, and 6 months. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies,Montreal.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohn, J., Campbell, S., & Ross, S. (1992). Infant response in the still-face paradigm at 6 months predicts avoidant and secure attachment at 12 months. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 367–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Comstock, G., & Helsing, K. (1976). Symptoms of depression in two communities. Psychological Medicine, 6, 551–563.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Coyne, J. C. (1976). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 186–193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Downey, G., & Coyne, J. C. (1990). Children of depressed parents: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin, 108, 50–76.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Erickson, M., Sroufe, L. A., & Egeland, B. (1985). The relationship between quality of attachment and behavior problems in preschool in a high-risk sample. Bretherton, I. & Waters, E. (Eds.), Growing points of attachment theory and research. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 290), 147–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fergusson, D. M., Hons, B., Horwood, L., Gretton, M. E., & Shannon, F. T. (1985). Family life events, maternal depression and maternal and teacher descriptions of child behavior. Pediatrics, 75, 30–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Field, T., Sandberg, D., Garcia, R., Vega-Lahr, N., Goldstein, S., & Grey, L. (1985). Pregnancy problems, postpartum depression and early mother-infant interactions. Developmental Psychology, 21, 1152–1156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Field, T. (1992). Infants of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 4, 49–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ghodsian, M., Zajicek, E., & Wolkind, S. (1984). A longitudinal study of maternal depression and child behavior problems. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 25, 91–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, S. (1987). Emory University Project on children of disturbed parents. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 31, 412–423.Google Scholar
Gordon, D., Burge, D., Hammen, C., Adrian, C., Jaenicke, C., & Hiroto, D. (1989). Observations of interactions of depressed women with their children. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 50–55.Google ScholarPubMed
Grunebaum, H. U., Cohler, B. J., Kaufman, C., & Gallant, D. H. (1978). Children of depressed and schizophrenic mothers. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 8, 219–228.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hammen, C., Burge, D., & Stansbury, K. (1990). Relationship of mother and child variables to child outcomes in a high-risk sample: A causal modeling analysis. Developmental Psychology, 26, 24–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammen, C., Gordon, D., Burge, D., Adrian, C., Jaenicke, C., & Hiroto, G. (1987). Maternal affective disorders, illness, and stress: Risk for children's psychopathology. American Journal of Psychiatry, 144, 736–741.Google ScholarPubMed
Harrington, R., Fudge, H., Rutter, M., Pickles, A., & Hill, J. (1991). Adult outcomes of childhood and adolescent depression: II. Links with antisocial disorders. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30(3), 434–439.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hirsch, B. J., Moos, R. F., & Reischl, T. M. (1985). Psychosocial adjustment of adolescent children of depressed, arthritic, or normal parents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 154–164.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hokanson, J. E., Rubert, M. P., Welker, R. A., Hollander, G. R., & Hedeen, C. (1989). Interpersonal concomitants and antecedents of depression among college students. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 98, 209–217.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hosmer, D. W., & Lemeshow, S. (1989). Applied logistic regression. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Hubbs-Tait, L., Eberhard-Wright, A., Ware, L., Osofsky, J., Yockey, W., & Fusco, J. (1991, 04). Maternal depression and infant attachment: Behavior problems at 54 months in children of adolescent mothers. Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development,Seattle, WA.Google Scholar
Hubbs-Tait, L., Fusco, J., Hann, D., Osofsky, J., & Hughes, K. (1992, 05). Infant disorganized attachment and maternal depression predict language skills of children of teenage mothers. Paper presented at the International Conference on Infant Studies,Miami, FL.Google Scholar
Husaini, B., Neff, J., Harrington, J., Hughes, M., & Stone, R. (1980). Depression in rural communities: Validating the CES-D scale. Journal of Community Psychology, 8, 20–27.3.0.CO;2-Y>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R. (1982). The stability of antisocial and delinquent child behavior: A review. Child Development, 53, 1431–1446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyons-Ruth, K. (1992). Maternal depressive symptoms, disorganized infant-mother attachment relationships and hostile-aggressive behavior in the preschool classroom: A prospective longitudinal view from infancy to age five. In Cicchetti, D. & Toth, S. (Eds.), Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology: Vol. 4. A developmental approach to affective disorders. Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.Google Scholar
Lyons-Ruth, K., Alpern, L., & Repacholi, B. (1993). Disorganized infant attachment classification and maternal psychosocial problems as predictors of hostile-aggressive behavior in the preschool classroom. Child Development, 64, 572–585.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyons-Ruth, K., Connell, D., Grunebaum, H., & Botein, S. (1990). Infants at social risk: Maternal depression and family support services as mediators of infant development and security of attachment. Child Development, 61, 85–98.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lyons-Ruth, K., Repacholi, B., McLeod, S., & Silva, E. (1991). Disorganized attachment behavior in infancy: Short-term stability, maternal and infant correlates, and risk-related subtypes. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 377–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lyons-Ruth, K., Zoll, D., Connell, D., & Grunebaum, H. (1986). The depressed mother and her one-year-old infant: Environmental context, mother-infant interaction and attachment, and infant development. In Tronick, E. & Field, T. (Eds.), Maternal depression and infant disturbance (pp. 61–82).. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.Google Scholar
McLoyd, V. C. (1990). The impact of economic hardship on black families and children: Psychological distress, parenting, and socioemotional development. Child Development, 61, 311–346.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myers, J. K., & Weissman, M. M. (1980). Use of a self-report symptom scale to detect depression in a community sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 137, 1081–1084.Google Scholar
Orr, S., & James, S. (1984). Maternal depression in an urban pediatric practice: Implications for health care delivery. American Journal of Public Health, 74, 363–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orvaschel, H., Welsh-Allis, G., & Weijai, Y. (1988). Psychopathology in children of parents with recurrent depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 16, 17–28.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radke-Yarrow, M., Cummings, E. M., Kuczynski, L., & Chapman, M. (1985). Patterns of attachment in two-and three-year-olds in normal families and families with parental depression. Child Development, 56, 884–893.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Radloff, L. (1977). The CES-D scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1(13), 385–401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Redding, R. E., Harmon, R. J., & Morgan, G. A. (1990). Relationships between maternal depression and infants' mastery behaviors. Infant Behavior and Development, 13, 391–395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reinherz, H., Gordon, A., Morris, K., & Anastas, T. (1983). Who shall be served? Issues in screening for emotional and behavioral problems in school. Journal of Primary Prevention, 4(2), 73–95.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Reinherz, H., & Gracey, C. (1983). Simmons Behavior Checklist: Technical information. Unpublished manuscript. (Available from Helen Reinherz, Simmons College School of Social Work, 51 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02116)Google Scholar
Richman, N., Stevenson, J., & Graham, P. (1982). Preschool to school: A behavioral study. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Robins, L. (1978). Sturdy predictors of adult antisocial behavior: Replication from longitudinal studies. Psychological Medicine, 8, 611–622.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rose, S. L., Rose, S. A., & Feldman, J. F. (1989). Stability of behavior problems in very young children. Development and Psychopathology, 1, 5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rutter, M. (1967). A children's behavior questionnaire for completion by teachers: Preliminary findings. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 1–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rutter, M., Yule, B., Quinton, D., Rowlands, O., Yule, W., & Berger, M. (1974). Attainment and adjustment in two geographical areas: III. Some factors accounting for area differences. British Journal of Psychiatry, 126, 520–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sattler, J. M. (1982). Assessment of children's intelligence and special abilities (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.Google Scholar
Weissman, M., & Paykel, E. (1974). The depressed woman: A study of social relationships. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wolkind, S. N., Zajicek-Coleman, E. & Ghodsian, M. (1980). Continuities in maternal depression. International Journal of Family Psychiatry, 1, 167–182.Google Scholar
Zahn-Waxler, C., Iannotti, R. J., Cummings, E. M., & Denham, S. (1990). Antecedents of problem behaviors in children of depressed mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 2, 271–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar