Persistent and severe postnatal depression associated with long ‐term problems in children

While maternal postnatal depression (PND) is associated with adverse outcomes in the child, the effects are increased when the PND is persistent and severe, recent research has found. In an observational study, women with PND that persisted, and their children, were compared with women with PND that subsided, and their children. The researchers found that the persistent and severe PND lasted far beyond the immediate postnatal period, with significant depressive symptoms lasting until at least 11 years after childbirth. Their children were at increased risk for behavioral problems by age 3.5, and at risk for lower grades and depression during adolescence.
Source: The Brown University Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology Update - Category: Psychiatry Tags: Maternal depression Source Type: research