Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission

A large body of literature documents the adverse effects of maternal depres sion on the functioning and development of offspring. Although investigator s have identified factors associated with risk for abnormal development and psychopathology in the children, little attention has been paid to the mec hanisms explaining the transmission of risk from the mothers to the childre n. Moreover, no existing model both guides understanding of the various pro cesses' interrelatedness and considers the role of development in explicati ng the manifestation of risk in the children. This article proposes a devel opmentally sensitive, integrative model for understanding children's risk i n relation to maternal depression. Four mechanisms through which risk might be transmitted are evaluated: (a) heritability of depression; (b) innate d ysfunctional neuroregulatory mechanisms; (c) exposure to negative maternal cognitions, behaviors, and affect; and (d) the stressful context of the chi ldren's lives. Three factors that might moderate this risk are considered: (a) the father's health and involvement with the child, (b) the course and timing of the mother's depression, and (c) characteristics of the child. Re levant issues are discussed, and promising directions for future research a re suggested.