Language Development in Children of Clinically Depressed Mothers in Remission: Early Experience Effects
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| Title: | Language Development in Children of Clinically Depressed Mothers in Remission: Early Experience Effects |
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| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Bornstein, Marc H. (ORCID |
| Source: | Developmental Psychology. Jun 2021 57(6):876-887. |
| Availability: | American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 12 |
| Publication Date: | 2021 |
| Sponsoring Agency: | Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (DHHS/NIH) |
| Contract Number: | T32MH18921 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Descriptors: | Language Acquisition, Child Language, Infants, Depression (Psychology), Clinical Diagnosis, Mothers, At Risk Persons, Child Development, Early Experience, Gender Differences, Birth Order, Correlation, Measures (Individuals), Language Skills |
| Geographic Terms: | District of Columbia |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory, Reynell Developmental Language Scales, Beck Depression Inventory |
| DOI: | 10.1037/dev0001182 |
| ISSN: | 0012-1649 |
| Abstract: | We compared language comprehension and production across the second year of life in children of clinically depressed mothers who later remitted with children of nondepressed mothers. Altogether, 157 mother-child dyads participated: 46 with mothers diagnosed at infant age 5 months as having major, minor, or other depressive disorders who fully remitted by 15 and 24 months and 111 with nondepressed mothers. The majority of mothers (mean [M] age = 32.8 years) were married, European American, and college educated. The groups did not differ on most sociodemographic indices, and analyses controlled for residual group differences in maternal education and child birth order. Children of early clinically depressed mothers understood fewer words at 15 months (by maternal report on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory [MCDI]) and 24 months (by experimenter-administered Reynell Developmental Language Scales [RDLS]) than children of nondepressed mothers. Children of nondepressed mothers increased in language comprehension from 15 to 24 months, whereas children of early clinically depressed mothers did not. Aggregating over 15 and 24 months, nondepressed mothers reported that their children expressed more words than clinically depressed mothers reported their children expressed; experimenter assessment revealed no difference between the two groups. Maternal clinical depression in the first 5 months is related to reduced language comprehension and production during the second year of life even in children whose mothers remit, indicating an early experience effect of maternal clinical depression in muting child language development. Future research should identify the mechanisms by which this early experience effect occurs to inform targeted early preventative interventions for at-risk children. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2021 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1305466 |
| Database: | ERIC |
| Abstract: | We compared language comprehension and production across the second year of life in children of clinically depressed mothers who later remitted with children of nondepressed mothers. Altogether, 157 mother-child dyads participated: 46 with mothers diagnosed at infant age 5 months as having major, minor, or other depressive disorders who fully remitted by 15 and 24 months and 111 with nondepressed mothers. The majority of mothers (mean [M] age = 32.8 years) were married, European American, and college educated. The groups did not differ on most sociodemographic indices, and analyses controlled for residual group differences in maternal education and child birth order. Children of early clinically depressed mothers understood fewer words at 15 months (by maternal report on the MacArthur Communicative Development Inventory [MCDI]) and 24 months (by experimenter-administered Reynell Developmental Language Scales [RDLS]) than children of nondepressed mothers. Children of nondepressed mothers increased in language comprehension from 15 to 24 months, whereas children of early clinically depressed mothers did not. Aggregating over 15 and 24 months, nondepressed mothers reported that their children expressed more words than clinically depressed mothers reported their children expressed; experimenter assessment revealed no difference between the two groups. Maternal clinical depression in the first 5 months is related to reduced language comprehension and production during the second year of life even in children whose mothers remit, indicating an early experience effect of maternal clinical depression in muting child language development. Future research should identify the mechanisms by which this early experience effect occurs to inform targeted early preventative interventions for at-risk children. |
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| ISSN: | 0012-1649 |
| DOI: | 10.1037/dev0001182 |
