Mothers' dependent and self-critical depressive experience is related to speech content with infants.

Abstract

Maternal depression is associated with negative consequences for motherinfant interaction and infant development regardless of whether depression is defined by clinician-based diagnosis or by self-report (Gitlin & Pasnau, 1989; Murray & Cooper, 1997). Depressed mothers are more withdrawn, less contingent on infant behavior, more less playful, and more negative than nondepressed mothers. Infants of depressed mothers are less positive, more distressed, less active, and more gaze averted (see for example Cohn, Campbell, Matias, & Hopkins, 1990; Cohn & Tronick, 1989; Field, 1995; Murray, Kempton, Woolgar, & Hooper, 1993). However, depression is not a unitary phenomenon. Two important profiles of maternal interactive disturbance have been identified: (a) disengaged, characterized by low levels of interaction and positive behavior, and associated with more infant protest; and (b) intrusive, characterized by high levels of rough, angry behaviors and low levels of positive behavior, and associated with more infant gaze aversion (Cohn & Tronick, 1989; Field, 1995). Disengaged mothers improve after training in attention-getting techniques, while intrusive mothers do so after learning imitation strategies (Malphurs et al., 1996). Most of the above work measured depression with a symptom approach based on self-report, clinical diagnostic interviews, or both. In this study, a different approach to measuring depression and its subtypes is utilized. A welldeveloped adult literature on personality characteristics mediating depression and interactive difficulties has remained separate from that on maternal depression and mother-infant interaction (Blatt, Quinlan, Chevron, McDonald, & Zuroff, 1982). This study applies Blatt's assessment of depression and compares it to a self-report symptom approach, the Center for Epidemiological StudiesDepression Scale (CES-D), in examining the impact of maternal depression on mother-infant interaction. The Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ), a reliable, well-validated instrument (Blatt, D'Afflitti, & Quinlan, 1979; Blatt et al., 1982), measures two configurations of vulnerability to depressive experience: (a) Dependency, excessive concern with maintenance of interpersonal relatedness; and (b) SelfCriticism, excessive concern with achievement of self-defining goals. The two personality configurations are distinct in terms of triggering events, the nature of depressive experience, and associated interpersonal behavior (Alden & Bieling, 1996; Blaney & Kutcher, 1991; Coyne & Whiffen, 1995). The excessive focus of dependent individuals on relatedness results in a selective vulnerability to depressive experience in response to ruptures in important relationships. Dependent individuals are less psychologically reflective and are likely to express dysphoria in somatic complaints. They avoid offending others for fear of losing support and their sense of well being. When separated from significant others they are more likely to experience distress; when challenged with the task of regulating negative affect they are less likely to spend time alone (Blatt, Hart, Quinlan, Leadbeater, & Auerbach, 1992; Blatt & Zuroff, 1992; Fichman, Koestner, Zuroff, & Gordon, 1999; Mongrain & Zuroff, 1989). The excessive focus of self-critical individuals on self-definition results in a selective vulnerability to depressive experience in response to achievement failures. Self-critical individuals exhibit excessive personal demands for accomplishment and control and experience relentless self-criticism and inferiority when depressed. They exhibit more negative reactions during conflict resolution and tend toward a hostile, controlling interpersonal style and harsh criticism of others. They are less likely to turn to others for emotional support (Aube & Whiffen, 1996; Blatt & Zuroff, 1992; Mongrain & Zuroff, 1989; Zuroff & Fitzpatrick, 1995). …