Depression in first-time mothers: Mother-infant interaction and depression chronicity.

Abstract

Married, middle-class women who met diagnostic criteria for depression and a comparable group of nondepressed women were videotaped interacting with their infants at home at 2, 4, and 6 months. When depression was defined in terms of 2-month diagnosis, there were no differences between depressed and comparison mothers or babies in either positive interaction during feeding, face-to-face interaction, or toy play. However, women whose depressions lasted through 6 months were less positive with their infants across these 3 contexts than women whose depressions were more short-lived, and their babies were less positive during face-to-face interaction. These data highlight the need to distinguish between transient and protracted depression effects on the mother-infant relationship and infant outcome