​​​​When mothers experience symptoms of depression after the birth of
their children they are less likely to breastfeed, play with, read to
or perform other interactive parenting tasks with their newborns,
according to a study conducted by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
and Columbia University. The nationwide study is the largest to examine
whether a mother�s depressive symptoms impact her parenting practices
post partum. The results appear in the March 2006 edition of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.�Maternal
depressive symptoms are very common in early infancy. We found nearly
18 percent of the mothers in our study reported experiencing some
symptoms of depression two to four months after the birth of their
children,� said Cynthia S. Minkovitz, MD, MPP, corresponding author of the study and a professor in the Department of Population and Family Health Sciences
at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. �These symptoms clearly have
an unfavorable impact on a mother�s parenting practices, particularly
those that involve active engagement with the child. Our results
highlight the importance of screening new mothers for depressive
symptoms.�
Results from the study showed that 43.8 percent of
mothers with depressive symptoms were likely to be breastfeeding at two
to four months post partum compared to 56.9 percent of mothers who did
not have depressive symptoms. At two to four months following birth,
87.4 percent of mothers with depressive symptoms were likely to play
with their infants at least once a day compared to 91.9 percent of
mothers without symptoms, and 22.4 percent of mothers with depressive
symptoms were likely to show their children books compared to 28.2
percent without.
The presence of depressive symptoms did not
appear to impact a mother�s adherence to safety practices, such as
lowering the temperature of the home water heater and placing the
infant in the correct sleeping position. In these instances, the
researchers did not find any significant differences between mothers
with and without depressive symptoms after factors such as the mothers�
age, income and level of education were considered. Overall, adherence
to safety practices was high among all study participants.
The
results of the study are based on an analysis of 4,874 mothers from 15
pediatric care sites nationwide conducted by Minkovitz, lead author
Kathryn Taafe McLearn, PhD, formerly with the Mailman School of Public
Health at Columbia University, and colleagues. The participants were
drawn from the National Evaluation of Healthy Steps for Young Children
and were surveyed about their backgrounds when they entered the study,
and then about their depressive symptoms and parenting practices two to
four months following the birth of their child.
�Maternal
Depressive Symptoms at 2 to 4 Months Post Partum and Early Parenting
Practices� was written by Kathryn Taafe McLearn, PhD; Cynthia S.
Minkovitz, MD, MPP; Donna M. Strobino, PhD; Elisabeth Marks; MPH, and
William Hou, MS.
Funding for the study was provided by The Commonwealth Fund.p>
Public
Affairs media contacts for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public
Health: Tim Parsons or Kenna Lowe at 410-955-6878 or paffairs@jhsph.edu.