Maternal Depression Indicators and Mother-Child Interaction at 18 Months
Keywords:
Maternal depression, Mother-child interaction, Intrusiveness, Child development.Abstract
Maternal depression is associated with disturbances in mother-child interaction and child development. This study compared mother-child interaction when the child was 18 months old in dyads with mothers who had depression indicators (clinical group) and in dyads with mothers who did not have depression indicators (nonclinical group), according to two assessments carried out when the child was one and 18 months old. Sixteen mother-child dyads participated, divided into the two groups. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a mother-child interaction observation session were used. The results revealed only one difference indicating that the mothers in the clinical group were more intrusive while interacting with their children than the mothers in the nonclinical group. The implications of maternal intrusiveness for mother-child interaction, and the importance of the study of comorbidities and chronicity
of maternal depression in future investigations are discussed.
