depression

Study Shows Postnatal Depression Linked To Kids: Depression is a huge factor in our world, we see it everywhere we look and unfortunately, sometimes we see it when it has unfolded before us without any symptoms at all. However, postnatal depression in itself is a very normal reaction to having a baby and it usually resolves itself within a few weeks after the baby is born. For some mothers however, postnatal depression lasts months of sometimes even years. For some mothers who face profound or prolonged postnatal depression, the risk of their child becoming depressed is much higher until they reach the age of 16.

Dr. Murray and her British colleagues took a study on 100 mothers from the age of 18 to 42, 58 with postpartum depression. They found that some first time mothers developed depression two months after delivery. Mothers of postpartum depression and those without postpartum depression were all evaluated along with their children at the ages 18 months, 5, 8, 13, and 16.

Using the SPI at recruitment, the Schedule for Affective Disorder and Schizophrenia, and the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, maternal depression was evaluated. Marital conflict was evaluated as well from the source of interviews and questionnaires.

While the child was 18 months old, a standardized observational measure was used to find out how the baby was coping with maternal separation and reunion in an unaccustomed atmosphere. This is known as Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure. While the child was between 5 and 8 years old, researchers evaluated behavioral and emotional responses to look into their ego suppleness. While the child was 16 years old clinical researchers conducted diagnostic interviews that were blind to maternal state using Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia, Present and Lifetime Version, also known as (KSADs).

It was discovered that children who were born to women who developed postnatal depression, were at a higher risk of depression themselves. The child’s rate of depression by the time they reach 16 was more than 40 percent.

An observer of the study, Dr. Davis Reiss says, “The striking findings from Murray et al. emphasize the impact of maternal depression on the marital process and how important this process in the evolution of the child’s depression.

The researchers concluded, “The substantially raised risk for depression among offspring of postnatal depressed mothers underlines the importance of screening for PND and of delivering early interventions.”