THE EFFECTS OF POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION ON CHILD-DEVELOPMENT - A METAANALYSIS

The adverse, short-term effects of postpartum depression on maternal-i nfant interaction have been repeatedly documented, Are there long-term sequelae for children whose mothers had experienced postpartum depres sion? The purpose of this meta-analysis was to determine the magnitude of the effect of postpartum depression on the cognitive and emotional development of children older than the age of 1 year, Nine studies wh ich met the sample criteria were included in this meta-analysis, Resul ts indicated that postpartum depression had a small but significant ef fect on children's cognitive and emotional development, The r indicato r for effect size ranged from .18 to .22 whereas the d indicator range d from .36 to .45, Implications for future research are addressed. Cop yright (C) 1998 by W.B. Saunders Company.