INTERACTIONS BETWEEN DEPRESSED AND NONDEPRESSED LATINA MOTHERS AND THEIR PREMATURE-INFANTS

The impact of depression upon mother-infant interaction was studied lo ngitudinally in a sample of very low income, immigrant Latina mothers with premature, very low birth weight infants. Both maternal character istics and infant characteristics were examined using a rating scale w hich measured feeding interactions. Results indicate that mothers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their pr emature infants than nondepressed mothers. In addition, infants of mot hers who were depressed at one month did not interact differently with their mothers than infants of nondepressed mothers. There were no dif ferences between groups of mothers who remained depressed across the o ne-year period and groups whose scores reflected no depression or chan ges in depression levels. These findings challenge previous assumption s about interactions between depressed mother-infant dyads. Results in dicate the need to broaden study attention to include socioeconomic, c ultural, and life circumstances of families that may have greater impa ct on child outcomes than single assessments of maternal depression. S uch studies may lead to changes in the way services are delivered and the types of interventions provided to non-mainstream families.