Maternal postpartum depression and infant developmental outcomes: systematic review

Post-Partum Issues -- Effects on Child Development

A peer-reviewed article in the journal Child Psychiatry and Human Development points out in the Abstract that there is a strong association between "maternal psychological distress and infant outcomes" (Kingston, et al., 2012, p. 683). In fact the article asserts that indeed, parental distress -- in particular postpartum depression and related health issues -- can have "…an adverse effect on cognitive, behavioral, and psychomotor development" in infants (children) (Kingston, 683). In order to more fully understand the dynamics of postpartum depression and its impact on infants as they grow, the authors conducted a "systematic review" of existing empirical studies that assessed how infant development is impacted by psychological distress in five aspects of infant development. Those five aspects include: global, cognitive, behavioral, socio-emotional and psychomotor (Kingston, 683). This paper critiques and reviews what the authors discovered in their research.

Global Index of Developmental Components

The studies used by the researchers were published between January 1, 1990, and August 10, 2010. Two independent reviewers (in addition to the authors' research) were employed in order to make objective, critical appraisals. A total of 17,792 studies related to postpartum issues were discovered, and among those, 18 had outcomes related to infants. A total of 1,264 of the studies assessed; a) the effect of "prenatal trait anxiety" in the second trimester of pregnancy; b) prenatal-postnatal "perceived stress in the late gestation to the immediate postpartum period" c) stress on the parents at 12 months of age; and d) postpartum distress (PPD) between 2 and 12 months (Kingston, 687).

The main findings by examining the heretofore mentioned research studies are presented on pages 689 -- 692; and the main findings -- according to research by Slykerman -- showed that 33.8% of the infants experienced "developmental delay" due to PPD. In fact Slykerman reported that mothers with "high parenting stress" had more than "twice the odds" of experiencing developmental delay in their infants (Kingston, 689). Another finding (by Punamaki, et al.) revealed that some prenatal anxiety in the second trimester was linked to "poor neonatal health," which then in turn contributed to some developmental issues (Kingston, 689).

Infant Cognitive Development

Of the research articles that were reviewed, seven longitudinal studies evaluated how prenatal and postpartum "distress" impacted cognitive development in infants. Among infants studied whose mothers were distressed postpartum, 34% had cognitive delay (Kingston, 696). But only 7% of infants from mothers that were not distressed postpartum showed signs of cognitive development delay; and also, when PPD occurs two to three months after giving birth, the research "…was associated with poor functioning on a cognitive object task test in 9-month-old infants. Not surprisingly, women with cocaine addiction problems had children that scored low in cognitive development at six months (Kingston, 696).

Infant Socio-Emotional Development

The findings in this category included results from four studies, two of which reported that rates of "poor sociability" ranged from 6% to 14.8% in children born to "non-distressed women"; however, in women that did show distress in postpartum periods, poor sociability was found in 27.3% up to 55% of children. The women's distress in these two studies revolved around: depression; generalized "anxiety/social phobia"; postpartum mood; and psychiatric illness (Kingston, 698).

Infant Psychomotor Development

On page 705 Kingston points out that in one of the research studies psychomotor delay was found in 30% of infants born to women who were distressed during pregnancy and only 14% of infants born to "non-anxious" women were seen to have psychomotor delays in development. However, there was no association between postpartum distress and psychomotor development, Kingston reports.

Significance to the Field of Child Development

The authors explain that because of the relatively small number of studies that provided evaluations of global indicies, behavioral, and socio-emotional development, there is not enough evidence to describe a "trend" that is linked to maternal distress (707). That said, the authors do conclude that seven of the studies suggest that "…cognitive development was associated with both prenatal and postpartum distress" (707). As to further investigative efforts, the authors believe they have revealed sufficient evidence to warrant "...an upstream, preventative approach to infant developmental problems" (707). Moreover, the authors mention that there were limitations because only English language research was reviewed, and the review involved only "developed countries" rather than third-world countries.

In conclusion, it can be stated that based on this article there are problems that exist for a newborn when an expectant mother is going through stressful situations -- either during pregnancy or in a postpartum situation. The authors have used a relatively small number of existing empirical research articles, but from what they have learned, this issue needs additional study.