Effects of maternal depression on cognitive development of children over the first 7 years of life

The effects of postnatal depression on cognitive test scores at 20 months a nd 4; 8 years of age as well as the timing (onset in the early postnatal pe riod versus later). severity, number of episodes. duration of longest phase , recency, and chronicity of material depression on children's cognitive sc ores at 6:3 years was investigated, In South Bavaria, Germany, 1329 mothers of singletons were screened when the children were 6, 3 years of age for t he presence of depressive symptoms since the birth of their infant. A stand ard interview (SADS-L) was used to ascertain DSM-IV diagnosis and details o f depressive episodes. Ninety-two mothers were diagnosed as having suffered DSM-IV defined depression (7%). Seven hundred and twenty-one mothers had n o depressive episodes or symptoms from their children's birth until 6: 3 ye ars and were used as control group. The children had been assessed with the Griffiths Scales of Babies" Abilities (20 months), the Columbia Mental Mat urity Scales (CMM) at 4.8 years, and the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Chi ldren (K-ABC) at 6,3 years. No significant main effects of severity, timing of onset, duration. or chronicity of depression of the child's cognitive d evelopment were found. Significant interactions of gender with chronicity o f maternal depression (i.e. early-onset major and repeated episodes) were d etected. Low SES boys or boys born at neonatal risk of mothers with chronic depression had lower Achievement Scores in the K-ABC at 6 3 years than chi ldren of mothers with less severe depression or controls. It is concluded t hat maternal depression per se has negligible effects on children's cogniti ve development. Long-term effects may be found when maternal depression is chronic. the child is a boy and neonatal risk-born., or the family suffers other social risks.