Effects of maternal psychopathology on birth outcomes and later psychopathology Effects of...

Effects of maternal psychopathology on birth outcomes and later psychopathology

Effects of adolescent status and states of mind on child attachment and maternal sensitivity

Effects of children’s attachment and maternal depression on behavioral outcomes

Child Psychopathology in Context IParental Transmission Models

Presence of maternal psychopathology places neonates at risk for complications, which could result in later psychopathological outcomes (Zax)

Mothers categorized into four groups

Schizophrenics

Neurotic depressives

Personality disorders

Controls (nonpathologized)

Mothers also categorized by two other variables

Chronicity of mental illnessNo mental illness

Low chronicity

Medium chronicity

High chronicity

Severity of mental illnessLow severity

Moderate severity

High severity

Findings

Mentally ill women differed from controls on four variables

Anxiety level

Social incompetency

Depression

Severity of mental illness

Mentally disordered women have infants with more medical complications than controls on seven variables

ROS infant score

ROS total score

APGAR score (1’+ 5’)

Induced labor

Low birthweight

Resuscitation

Fetal death (4/56 (7%) for neurotic depressives)

Chronicity in women distinguished four women’s and infants’ characteristics (consisting largely of schizophrenics)

AnxietySocial incompetencyDepressionLow birthweight

Severity in women distinguished five women’s and infants’ characteristics (based on current anxiety and depression)

AnxietySocial incompetencyDepressionLow birthweightAPGAR scores (1’+ 5’)

Infant mortality and adoptionNeurotic depressives responsible for all but one death (4/56 (7%))

Schizophrenics responsible for all but two separations (6/29 (21%))

Adopted low birthweight infants carry potential for negative interactions with caregivers

Adolescent Mothers’ States of Mind with Respect to Attachment Influence

Maternal Sensitivity and Infant Attachment (Ward)

Concordance between mothers’ attachment assessments (AAI’s) and infant attachment assessments (Strange Situation)

AAI’s administered during third trimesterStrange situations administered at 15 months

AAI classification distributions with SS distributions (68% agreement)

32% F – 44% B (86% concordance)36% Ds – 34% A (73% concordance) 6% E – 4% C (60% concordance) 26% U – 18% D (only 43% concordance)

Concordance between AAI’s and mothers’ sensitivity (as measured by Crittenden) assessed at 3 and 9 months No relation between maternal sensitivity and infant attachment

Multiple caregivers involved (related)Significant intervening life events (not related)At 9 months among future anxious infants, mothers who were primary caregivers were less sensitive than mothers who were not primary caregiversAt 9 months among future secure infants, mothers who were primary caregivers did not differ in sensitivity from those who were notPerhaps behaviors of primary caregiver have more influence on infant attachment than behaviors of mother

ConclusionsPredictive validity of AAI for sensitivity, infant attachment

Meaning of sensitivity must be examined in the context of multiple caregivers

Quality Of Preschool Children’s Attachment And Maternal Depression Both

Influence Children’s Externalizing Behaviors

(Hubbs-Tait)

Distribution of children’s attachment patterns (at 44 months)

6 D (18%)9 A (26%)15 mild A (44%)4 fairly secure (12%)O secureO resistant

Principal components analysis of story-completion responses (p. 422)

Departure factor (threat) lack of empathy, antisocial responses?Reunion factor (comfort) empathy, prosocial responses?

Departure factor, maternal depression measured at 44 months predicted CBCL externalizing behaviors at 54 months

Only maternal depression measured at 44 and 54 months predicted CBCL internalizing behaviors at 54 months

Clinically externalizing children had higher departure scores than nonclinical children ( T<63)

ConclusionsResponses to departure but not reunion predict future behavior problems (contrary to results in SS)Disorganized kids could have been resistant in infancy ( cf. also Bretherton et al.’s (1990) article)Maternal depression related to both externalizing and internalizing behaviors5 of 6 clinical children had disorganized departure responses (83%)

Frightening, violent experiences during parental absence, orIrreconcilable conflict in representations of departures from parents