PND Flashcards
(7 cards)
causes of PND
Features that help to differentiate depression from the
normal changes experienced perinatally include:
*Persistent and marked depressed mood, sadness, irritability,
absence of pleasure, difficulty concentrating or making
decisions.
*Hopelessness and overwhelming feelings of responsibility.
*Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or being a ‘bad’ mother.
*Social withdrawal.
*Anxiety symptoms (including excessive or unrealistic worry
about the baby, difficulty sleeping [even when the baby is],
health anxiety, and physical symptoms of anxiety)
Combination of psychosocial factors (e.g., Beck, 1996; Robertson,
2004; Hutchens & Kearney, 2020)
*Pre-natal and pregnancy depression and anxiety
*Negative attitudes to pregnancy
*Demands of parenting (e.g., stress, sleep, childcare,
financial concerns)
*Difficult childbirth
*Lack of social support
*Marital/partner satisfaction
*Abuse or violence
biological theory of PND
Mawson & Xueyuan(2013)
*Vitamin A -related compounds accumulate during pregnancy.
*High levels are known to be associated with cognitive
disturbances and mood disorders.
*Prolonged lactation (breastfeeding; BF) reduces these
concentrations of Vitamin A-providing protection for mother.
*14% lower risk of PND for any BFmothers; 53% lower risk in
those exclusively BF(Xia et al. 2022).
impact of PND on child
Lower cognitive and psychomotor development at 15 months
(Cornish et al., 2005) and poorer language development
(O’Hara & McCabe, 2013).
*Associated with behavioural problems at 2 years (Avan et al.,
2002)
and difficult temperament (Austin et al., 2005).
*Lower infant weight gain and more growth faltering (Wright et al., 2006) and stunted growth at age 2 (Avant et al., 2010).
*More likely to develop insecure attachments and disruptive effect on mother-child relationship (e.g., Moehleret al., 2006)
A small, but growing, body of research suggests:
*Lower mother–offspring relationship quality is linked to reduced offspring self-esteem and social competence (Kim & Cicchetti, 2004), which has potential consequences such as being less able to achieve high social status (Rudolph et al., 1995) or
succeed in the job market (Baron & Markman, 2003).
*Poorer educational attainment at 16 (Pearson et al., 2016) and
lower GCSE Maths (Netsiet al., 2018).
*Higher cortisol (Halligan et al., 2004), higher risk of teen
depression and anxiety(Murray et al., 2011; Netsiet al., 2018).
*Highly dependent on the level of PND severity
however (er) as stated by Book (england 2009) there is a huge lack of longidunal work, and much much more of this is needed. cross sectional work only grabs a snippet of this relationship! and much less known about fathers
ER on PND
Field 2010- PND, the effects in this study were seen universally across cultures and accross SES groups, controlliung for these makes this a strong study- they found that parents with PND= mothers are less sensetive and responsive to infants, Several caregiving activities also appear to be compromised by postpartum depression including feeding practices, most especially breastfeeding, sleep routines and well-child visits, vaccinations and safety practices.
ENGLAND 2009/ book on depression in parents, parenting and children BY the national research council in 2009=
more harsh parenting, and even more likley cause physical abuse- also found The poorer parenting qualities may not improve to levels comparable to those of never-depressed parents, despite remission or recovery from episodes of depression. also associated with more difficult child temperament- this is then likely to be cyclical.
Also linked to poor ER, depression, anxiety, substance use in children
however this study also found
Depression in parents is more likely to be associated with adverse outcomes in children with the presence of additional risk factors (e.g., poverty, exposure to violence, marital conflict, comorbid psychiatric disorders, absence of father when the mother has depression, and clinical characteristics of the depression, such as severity and duration) than with depression that occurs in the context of more protective factors. ADDITIONALLY martial functioning also mediates this relationhsip!
paternal PND
less than mothers?
Fathers with PND had children with greater emotional and
behavioural problemsthan those without PDN (Ramchandani
et al., 2005).
*Associations appear stronger for boys than girls (e.g.,
Ramchandani et al., 2008.)
*Paternal PND linked to increased risk of child’s psychiatric
diagnosisat 7 years (Ramchandani et al., 2008.)
less is known about this? fathers just report it less?
however…
Studies show mothers can recover from PND, and the effects on the child’s development therefore don’t occur
lovejoy 2000-
This passage summarizes the findings of a meta-analysis of 46 observational studies examining how depression affects parenting behavior. Here’s what it is essentially saying, broken down into clear points:
Depression negatively affects parenting behaviors:
The strongest association was found between maternal depression and negative parenting behaviors—such as irritability, hostility, or harshness.
Depressed mothers may also disengage:
Depression was also linked to disengagement or withdrawal from the child, although this effect was slightly weaker than for negative behaviors.
Positive parenting is affected too, but less so:
Depression had a weaker, but still significant, negative association with positive parenting behaviors—such as warmth, praise, and responsiveness.
Current depression has the biggest impact:
The effects were strongest when the depression was current, but there were still lingering (“residual”) negative effects from past episodes of depression across all parenting behaviors.
Certain factors influence how strong these effects are:
Socioeconomic status (SES): The impact of depression on positive parenting was strongest in disadvantaged women.
Child’s age: Effects were strongest for mothers of infants.
Measurement method: Whether depression was measured using interviews or self-reports didn’t make a big difference—both showed similar effects. This suggests that even subclinical symptoms, not just formally diagnosed depression, can affect parenting.
More research is needed:
The authors stress the need for more research to understand what factors increase or reduce the impact of depression on parenting—especially for mothers with ongoing psychological difficulties.
