THE EFFECTS OF MATERNAL DEPRESSION ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT

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The children of depressed mothers are a neglected and understudied population. Little is known about the consequences of rearing by a depressed mother on the development of competencies in her offspring. The goals of the proposed research are to study: 1) the social and emotional development, intellectual functioning, and diagnostic status of children of depressed mothers; 2) specific dimensions of parenting associated with depression in the mothers; 3) the degree to which family stresses, support resources, and quality of the parent's marriage may increase or decrease the effect of depressed mothers on their children; and 4) whether more years of exposure to the depressed mother result in more negative effects to the child. Thirty children will be studied in each of three groups based on mother's diagnosis: major depression, acute; major depression, characterological; well. Children will range in age from 4 through 10 years old. All subjects will be white and predominantly middle SES. Mothers' diagnoses will be confirmed with a structured clinical interview resulting in both RDC and DSMIII diagnoses. Children's social and emotional functioning will be assessed with three multidimensional indices of social competence: self-concept, self-control, and peer relations. Children will also be administered an individual intelligence test and a structured diagnostic interview. Also assessed will be dimensions of parenting, stressful life events and support resources of the family, and quality of the marriage. Hypotheses will be tested with a series of MANOVA's and MANCOVA's of mother's diagnostic status on child competence. A major purpose of the proposed research is to increase the knowledge base on how children cope with a depressed mother. A major premise underlying the design of the study is that the progress a child is making in accomplishing the tasks of social and emotional development is likely to be a better index of the impact of a depressed mother than attempts to diagnose depression in the child. Further, deficits in these aspects of development may be correlates of childhood or incipient depression and, as such, would contribute to knowledge about the developmental course of psychopathology. The study should also provide some of the information needed in order to design preventive interventions for children of depressed mothers.