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- Title
Maternal Postpartum Depression Increases Vulnerability for Toddler Behavior Problems through Infant Cortisol Reactivity.
- Authors
Lawler, Jamie M.; Bocknek, Erika L.; McGinnis, Ellen W.; Martinez‐Torteya, Cecilia; Rosenblum, Katherine L.; Muzik, Maria
- Abstract
The current study examined the role of hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal reactivity (a physiological indicator of stress) in early infancy as a mediator of the relationship between maternal postpartum depression and toddler behavior problems. Participants were 137 at‐risk mothers and their children participating in a longitudinal study of intergenerational transmission of risk. Mothers' depression was measured five times during the infants' first 18 months. Infant cortisol was collected during a social stressor (the still‐face paradigm) when infants were 6 months old, and mothers reported on toddlers' internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 18 months. Among this sample of high‐risk mother–infant dyads, early postpartum depression predicted atypical infant cortisol reactivity at 6 months, which mediated the effect of maternal depression on increased toddler behavior problems. Clinical implications are discussed.
- Subjects
ADRENAL gland physiology; BRAIN physiology; HYPOTHALAMUS physiology; PITUITARY gland physiology; POSTPARTUM depression diagnosis; BEHAVIOR disorders; HYDROCORTISONE; INTERGENERATIONAL relations; LONGITUDINAL method; MOTHER-infant relationship; POSTPARTUM depression; RISK assessment; ATTITUDES of mothers; PSYCHOLOGICAL vulnerability; CHILDREN; DISEASE risk factors
- Publication
Infancy, 2019, Vol 24, Issue 2, p249
- ISSN
1525-0008
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1111/infa.12271