@article{ref1,
title="Chronic maternal depressive symptoms are associated with reduced socio-emotional development in children at 2 years of age: analysis of data from an intervention cohort in rural Pakistan",
journal="Frontiers in psychiatry",
year="2019",
author="De Oliveira, Clariana V. R. and Rasheed, Muneera and Yousafzai, Aisha K.",
volume="10",
number="",
pages="e859-e859",
abstract="<b>Background:</b> Maternal depression affects a high proportion of women during the antenatal and postnatal period in low- and middle-income countries. While maternal depression is recognized as a significant risk for poor early child development that warrants interventions, the effects of chronic maternal depression on children's development are less understood. <b>Objective:</b> To determine the association of chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms and early child development in a rural population in southern Pakistan. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> This study employs data from the &quot;Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up Trial,&quot; a randomized controlled study that evaluated the integration of responsive stimulation and nutrition interventions in a community health service. In the present analysis, linear regression was used to test the effects of chronicity of high maternal depressive symptoms on children's early development (n = 1205 mother-infant dyads). Children's development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development at 24 months of age. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and every 6 months using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire. <b>Results:</b> No significant associations were observed between chronic maternal depressive symptoms and child cognitive, language, or motor development after adjusting for parental characteristics, the caregiving environment and socioeconomic variables. A negative significant association between chronicity of high maternal depressive symptoms and child socio-emotional development (β coefficient -2.57, 95% CI: -5.14; -0.04) was observed after adjusting for the selected variables. <b>Conclusions:</b> The results suggest that interventions designed to promote early child development should also integrate repeat screening for depression and longer-term psychosocial support for mothers.<br><br>Copyright © 2019 De Oliveira, Rasheed and Yousafzai.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1664-0640",
doi="10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00859",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00859"
}