Infants of depressed mothers show "depressed" behavior even with nondepressed adults.
Journal Article (Journal Article)
To determine whether the "depressed" behavior (e.g., less positive affect and lower activity level) of infants noted during interactions with their "depressed" mothers generalizes to their interactions with nondepressed adults, 74 3-6-month-old infants of "depressed" and nondepressed mothers were videotaped in face-to-face interactions with their mothers and with nondepressed female strangers. "Depressed" mothers and their infants received lower ratings on all behaviors than nondepressed mothers and infants. Although the infants of "depressed" versus nondepressed mothers also received lower ratings with the stranger adult, very few differences were noted between those infants' ratings when interacting with their mother versus the stranger, suggesting that their "depressed" style of interacting is not specific to their interactions with depressed mothers but generalizes to their interactions with nondepressed adults as early as 3 months of age.
Full Text
Duke Authors
Cited Authors
- Field, T; Healy, B; Goldstein, S; Perry, S; Bendell, D; Schanberg, S; Zimmerman, EA; Kuhn, C
Published Date
- December 1988
Published In
Volume / Issue
- 59 / 6
Start / End Page
- 1569 - 1579
PubMed ID
- 3208568
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
- 0009-3920
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
- 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1988.tb03684.x
Language
- eng
Conference Location
- United States