Maternal Depression and Child Development: Unraveling the Impact and Protective Factors
Written by Claudia Belliveau, PhD Candidate, McGill University
What happens if a mother is depressed?
Mothers can experience perinatal (during the pregnancy) or postpartum (after birth) depression.
A common question we receive here at Curious Neuron is whether maternal depression has an impact on a child’s development. It’s definitely not a black and white answer seeing as there are many factors that can influence a child’s development.
Children with a depressed mother are at increased risk of mental health problems during childhood specifically internalizing problems a.k.a depression and anxiety (Szekely et al. 2021, Herba et al. 2013). This risk is higher if a mother’s depression symptoms are not managed or treated at all. However, if a depressed mother can seek help, get treatment or manage her symptoms the negative effects on the child’s development are minimized.
What if a depressed mother can’t feel better?
What if the treatments aren’t working and she still suffers daily from her depressive symptoms? Is there anything she can do?
A study conducted in Quebec found that children of depressed mothers had less negative outcomes (emotional problems and social withdrawing symptoms) when they were enrolled in regulated child care as early as possible (before 17 months old). This study included 1759 participants from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development that were assessed repeatedly between ages 5 months and 5 years (Herba et al. 2013). This research is supported by two other studies that come from the U.S. (Lee et al 2006) and Australia (Giles et al. 2011).
Q&A with an Expert
We wanted to get more information from a researcher in the field directly, here’s what Dr. Eszter Székely had to say:
Q: Does the severity of the mother’s depression make a difference in the severity of the problems the child might experience?
A: Yes. In fact, there are two factors that are suggested to be important in determining child outcomes in the context of maternal depression: chronicity (i.e., the length and/or frequency of depressive episodes) and severity of the maternal mood disorder (Netsi et al., 2018). Both the severity and the chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms are related to more behavior problems and lower vocabulary scores in children, while the interaction of severity and chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms (i.e., severe recurrent depression) leads to the highest levels of child behavior problems (Brennan et al., 2000).
Q: Does having a partner in the home, or a co-parent mediate any of the risk?
A: It certainly can. However, it depends on the characteristics of the partner/co-parent (Mezulis et al., 2004). For example, according to a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, fathers without any mental health issues have been able to buffer the negative impact of maternal depression on the child (Martin et al., 2022). The study showed that positive father behavior toward both the child and the mother reduced the likelihood of behavioral problems in the child by 9%. Unfortunately, positive father behavior is much less common in families where mothers experience severe-persistent depressive symptoms; as most of these fathers also tend to have higher levels of depressive symptoms (Martin et al., 2022). Other characteristics of the partner that affect their ability and availability to provide social support for their depressed partner can also predict children’s developmental success (Letourneau et al., 2009).
Q: Does the quality of child care matter in reducing the risk? Does attachment with this new caregiver play a role?
A: In the context of clinically relevant maternal depressive symptoms, children attending high-quality child care settings seem to present fewer behavioral problems later on, than those attending a low-quality care (when considering the availability/use of stimulating materials promoting learning and the richness of teaching and interactions of educators with children) (Charrois et al., 2020; Paquin et al., 2020). Thus, high-quality child care may help protect children from the negative effects of severe maternal depression.
It is possible for children to form secure attachments with more than one important adult in their lives, including their child care provider. This doesn’t affect the special relationship babies have with their parents or primary caregiver (Attachment: A connection for life | Caring for kids (cps.ca).
Q: What if a parent can’t afford child care, are there any other ways to mediate the negative effects of maternal depression?
A: Research has highlighted social support as an important protective factor against depressive symptoms and it may also help mitigate the adverse effects of maternal depression on child outcome (Gariepy et al., 2016; Milgrom et al., 2019). The benefits of receiving help from family, friends, and neighbors are numerous and cannot be overstated. Peer support groups may also be a valuable source of social support for mothers struggling with depression (Leger & Letourneau, 2015). Interventions targeting and leveraging the individual’s social support may be particularly relevant for reducing maternal depressive symptoms (Hagaman et al., 2021). However, it is also important to note that the relationship between social support and depression is bidirectional, as individuals who lack or have limited social support are more at risk for developing depressive symptoms (Cho et al., 2022; Taylor et al., 2022).
Meet the specialist: Eszter Szekely, PhD
Eszter Székely, PhD is a child and adolescent psychologist, family therapist, neuroscientist, and epidemiologist by training. She is an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at McGill University and a Principal Investigator at the Jewish General Hospital in Montreal, Canada. Dr. Szekely is the Director of the Perinatal Multisite Databank of patients receiving perinatal psychiatric services in the province of Quebec (Canada). Her research interests include studying the complex interplay of the early rearing environment and genetic risk on children’s brain health and mental health and the intergenerational transmission of perinatal mental health problems. Her aim is to improve patient care and support evidence-based practice in the treatment of families who are struggling with perinatal mental health problems. She is co-Editor of the book ‘Prenatal Stress and Child Development’ (Springer, 2021) and proud mother of a preschooler.
Dr. Székely’s research has been covered in the media by Le Journal de Quebec (french): https://www.journaldequebec.com/2020/05/13/des-bebes-de-la-pandemie-plus-anxieux