MOTHER-TODDLER INTERACTION PATTERNS ASSOCIATED WITH MATERNAL DEPRESSION

Interactive coordination was observed in laboratory play interactions of pairs of 29 clinically depressed and 14 nondepressed mothers and th eir 13-29-month-old children (M = 18.9 months). Nondepressed mothers a nd their children displayed more interactive coordination than depress ed-mother dyads (p < .001). Depressed mothers were less likely to repa ir interrupted interactions, and their toddlers were less likely to ma intain interactions than nondepressed controls. Toddlers matched their nondepressed but not their depressed mothers' negative behavior rates . Results suggested that early interventions focus on:raining mothers to attend to, maintain, and repair mother-child interactions to more c losely approximate normal levels of interactive coordination.