Postpartum depression, parentings and child outcomes Flashcards
(45 cards)
Discuss the key to good parenting being the quality of the relationship
- emotional availability
- be sensitive/attuned
- provide appropriate structure (stimulation, activities)
- don’t be intrusive
- don’t be hostile
What is optimal structuring?
- provides appropriate guidance and suggestions
- emotional and cognitive scaffolding
- sets limits and boundaries appropriate to context
- remains firm in the face of pressure
- adult is clearly “older and wiser”
what are Belsky’s 1984 determinants of individual differences in parenting
- child characteristics
- parent characteristics: personality, developmental history, mood, own attachment to parents
- context: culture/support
Discuss the importance of attachment theory re parenting characteristics in how people parent
- the quality of caregiving in early childhood/through childhood of parent is important to their own parenting
e. g. how the parent mentally represents this/state of mind regarding attachment - compelling evidence for this determining child’s attachment
Discuss the important of mood re parenting characteristics in how people parent
- anxiety/depression
- lots of evidence saying that parental loss/harsh parenting in childhood predisposes adults to mood disorders, especially chronic depression
What is postnatal depression ?
-depressed mood meeting DSM-V criteria for mood disorder during first year after birth
what percentage of people with PND can be persistent
30%
discuss the difficulty in identifying PND
- there is a difficulty in disentangling “normal” adjustment difficulties to a clinical mood disorder
- also confounded my stigma associated with PND: should be happiest time of life etc.
What percentage of women experience postnatal depression
13%
what is the plan in Australia associated with PND and what does it do
National Perinatal Depression Plan - identifies, refers and supports women with perinatal mood disorders and train health professionals
when does PND usually show itself
-symptoms usually appear between 6 weeks and 6 months after birth
how does PND meet the DSM-IV criteria
when symptoms last most of the day everyday for at least 2 weeks, to the extent that function is compromised
what are the symptoms of PND
-symptoms are the same as symptoms of depression at any other time in life
what are the shared symptoms between exhaustion and PND
- teariness
- sleep disturbance
- loss of concentration
- feeling you can’t cope
what are the distinguishing symptoms between exhaustion and PND
- inability to sleep even when baby is sleeping
- loss of pleasure
- morbid/suicidal thoughts
- low self-esteem
- loss of interest in eating
discuss the problems with denial/minimising/normalising PND
- rates of treatment uptake and acceptance of the “label” are very low despite public health education campaigns
- many people confused PND with postpartum psychosis, therefore distance themselves from it
- many woman have to reach crisis point before seeking help
who is vulnerable to PND
-everybody but some more than others
what are teh risk factors of PND
- past history/family history of mental illness
- unsupportive critical relationship
- stressful life events
- social factors - low income, migrant families
- personality factors
- a difficult/unsettled infant
discuss the difference between a transient “adjustment disorder” to a life transition & PND (percentages)
- many recover (70%) by the time baby is 6 mths old
- some (30%) have ongoing and severe depression
who is vulnerable to persistent or late onset depression
- depends on severity of symptoms
- depression/anxiety in pregnancy
- low ses
- migrant background
- low marital satisfaction 4 mths
- infant health problems/temperament in first 4 mths
What are the mechanisms through which PND may impact on the infant: four pathways
- genetic predisposition: effects on babies serotonin transporter gene
- in utero environment effects: impact of maternal stress hormones
- postnatal caretaking effects: mothers negative perception of infant behaviour, mother’s behaviour towards child
- the stressful social/ecologial context of the children’s lives
Discuss the impact of depression symptoms on the baby in regards to affect, cognitions and behaviour
affect - low mood, anxiety, irritability - baby can imitate mother’s mood
cognitions - negative/distorted thinking of baby behaviours
behaviour - hostile, irritable, unresponsive
Discuss the caretaking: mutual regulation model
Mother fails to respond sensitively to infant’s signals. Infant then becomes inattentive and/or rejecting of mother’s stimulation as a way of coping. Infant gives fewer cues to mother - mother has less chance to practice responsive caregiving.
Discuss Field’s 2010 caregiving/interaction style problems associated with depression
Interaction style:
irritability and hostility during interaction, less engagement, less warmth, less turntaking/gameplaying, less attunement to infant responses, different vocalisations, less stimulation