The joint contributions of maternal depression and infant negative emotionality to maternal sensitivity to infant distress

Jonathan Hill1, Andrew Pickles2, Helen Sharp3, Charlotte Cecil4, 1University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, 2King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK, 3University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK, 4University College London, London, UK. Presented at the 14th World WAIMH Congress, Edinburgh, June 2014.

Introduction: Maternal depression and lower parenting sensitivity are often associated during infancy. Yet, little is known about (i) the role of infant emotionality and its interplay with maternal depression in the prediction of maternal sensitivity and (ii) whether these emotion-laden processes may be particularly relevant to maternal sensitivity to distress. Method: We studied 260 first-time mothers and their infants from a general population prospective study of families recruited in pregnancy. Infant negative emotionality was assessed at 5 weeks of age using the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment (NBAS), and mothers were interviewed for DSM Major Depressive episodes over the first 29 weeks after birth. Maternal sensitivity was observed at 29 weeks in a standardized play procedure. Results: Controlling for a range of potential confounders, neither maternal depression nor infant negative emotionality independently predicted maternal sensitivity, but the interaction between them was statistically significant (p = .01). Increasing infant negative emotionality predicted decreasing maternal sensitivity to distress, only in mothers who experienced an episode of Major Depressive Disorder during the post natal period. This effect was not seen for sensitivity to non-distress, although the test of the difference between the effects was not statistically significant (p = .07). Conclusions: These findings suggest that maternal depression during the first months of infant life may create an affective and cognitive vulnerability to the effects of frequent intense infant negative emotions. The findings have implications for our understanding of psychological processes underlying maternal sensitivity, and hence for early interventions.