Maternal depression and impact on children's development.

The association between mental disorder in parents and abnormalities in their children's development is well established. It is strongest when parents have a personality disorder, or a chronic or recurrent depression, or emotional disturbance, and possibly somewhat less if they have schizophrenia.1 In the community depressive disorders are widespread with prevalence for non-bipolar depression in women ranging from 49%.2 Prevalence rises to 25% among mothers in urban populations with children of school age3 and to 40% among metropolitan working class mothers with young children.4 5 Puerperal psychoses and postnatal depression may be of particular importance because of the possible effect on the early development of the relationship between mother and child. Puerperal psychoses are rare6 but the onset of neurotic depression is particularly common in the three months after delivery; a new episode occurring in 10-15% of women.7 It may also occur more often in the first trimester of pregnancy.7 If maternal depression does have an important adverse effect on children's development, it is a major health issue. There are, however, reasons to think that the association between maternal depression and various indices of disturbed development in children are not a straightforward consequence of the child's exposure to depressive symptoms.