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Maternal Postpartum Depression Increases Vulnerability for Toddler Behavior Problems through Infant Cortisol Reactivity
Author(s) -
Lawler Jamie M.,
Bocknek Erika L.,
McGinnis Ellen W.,
MartinezTorteya Cecilia,
Rosenblum Katherine L.,
Muzik Maria
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
infancy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.361
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1532-7078
pISSN - 1525-0008
DOI - 10.1111/infa.12271
Subject(s) - toddler , psychology , stressor , depression (economics) , developmental psychology , postpartum depression , maternal sensitivity , vulnerability (computing) , reactivity (psychology) , clinical psychology , pregnancy , medicine , genetics , alternative medicine , computer security , pathology , biology , computer science , economics , macroeconomics
The current study examined the role of hypothalamic‐pituitary‐adrenal reactivity (a physiological indicator of stress) in early infancy as a mediator of the relationship between maternal postpartum depression and toddler behavior problems. Participants were 137 at‐risk mothers and their children participating in a longitudinal study of intergenerational transmission of risk. Mothers’ depression was measured five times during the infants’ first 18 months. Infant cortisol was collected during a social stressor (the still‐face paradigm) when infants were 6 months old, and mothers reported on toddlers’ internalizing and externalizing symptoms at 18 months. Among this sample of high‐risk mother–infant dyads, early postpartum depression predicted atypical infant cortisol reactivity at 6 months, which mediated the effect of maternal depression on increased toddler behavior problems. Clinical implications are discussed.