Maternal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in the first year of life predict child behavior at 36 months of age

Silvia Rigato; Sophia Charalambous; Manuela Stets; Karla Holmboe

doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101717

Maternal depressive symptoms and infant temperament in the first year of life predict child behavior at 36 months of age

Infant Behav Dev. 2022 May:67:101717. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101717. Epub 2022 Apr 19.

Authors

Silvia Rigato¹, Sophia Charalambous², Manuela Stets³, Karla Holmboe⁴

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Centre for Brain Science, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, UK.
³ School of Psychology & Sport Science, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK.
⁴ School of Psychological Science, University of Bristol, UK.

PMID: 35452976
DOI: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2022.101717

Abstract

In a longitudinal study, mothers (N = 50) self-reported on their depressive symptoms (DS) and their child's behavior during the first year and at 36 months postpartum. Maternal DS during infancy were associated with child conduct problems (CP), suggesting a long-term association between maternal mental health and the development of child behavior. Infant temperament was also associated with child behavior so that negative affect predicted child CP, while infant surgency was associated with later hyperactivity-inattention. This study contributes to the literature by jointly assessing the role of maternal DS and infant temperament and showing that these are independent predictors of childhood behavior.

Keywords: Child conduct problems; Infant temperament; Longitudinal; Maternal depression; Negative affect.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Child Behavior / psychology
Child, Preschool
Depression* / psychology
Female
Humans
Infant
Longitudinal Studies
Maternal Behavior / psychology
Mothers / psychology
Temperament*