A review of the evidence
Effects of Treating Postnatal Depression on Mother-Infant Interaction and Child Developments
Poobalan AS, Aucott LS, Ross L, Smith WCS, Helms PJ, Williams JHG.
The Issue
When women become depressed after having a baby, they often have trouble coping with their infant’s needs. They may not be able to respond in the sensitive and positive fashion that provides the infant with the best chances for good emotional and cognitive development. Studies have shown that interventions to prevent depression in pregnant or new mothers are not very effective. However, early diagnosis and treatment of depression once it is established is usually successful. Scientists have assumed that treating the mother’s depression has a positive effect on her child’s development, but this has not been studied carefully.
The Research
This was a review of published reports of studies that looked at the effect of treating maternal depression on child and youth outcomes. Eight studies were included in this review. Three of the studies looked at cognitive development in the children, while the other five studies assessed the relationship or interactions between the mother and baby.
The Outcome
All of the interventions produced improvements in the mother-infant relationship and in behavior problems and cognitive development in the children. Intensive, long term treatment showed the best results. It was not clear from the studies if the improvements in the children were the direct result of improvement in the mother’s depression. The improvements in the children or the mother-child relationship could have been related to some part of the intervention that improved the children’s cognitive development. The interventions included parent-toddler psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioural therapy, interpersonal therapy, and home visitation. There is no evidence that one is better than the other.
Conclusions
Treatment of maternal depression appears to have a positive effect on the mother-infant relationship. Only intensive, long-term intervention had a sustained effect on the infants’ cognitive development.
The preceding is a summary of:
Poobalan AS, Aucott LS, Ross L, Smith WCS, Helms PJ, Williams JHG. Effects of treating postnatal depression on mother-infant interaction and child development. British Journal of Psychiatry. 2007; 191: 378-386.
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