Sensitive Fathering Buffers the Effects of Chronic Maternal Depression on Child Psychopathology.
Maternal depression across the first years of life carries long-term negative consequences for children's well-being; yet, few studies focused on fathers as potential source of resilience in the context of chronic maternal depression. Utilizing an extreme-case design, a community birth cohort of married/cohabitating mothers (N = 1983) with no comorbid risk was repeatedly tested for maternal depression across the first year and again at 6 years, leading to two matched cohorts; 46 mothers with chronic depression and 103 non-depressed controls. At 6 years, mother and child underwent psychiatric diagnosis and mother-child and father-child interactions observed. Partners of depressed mothers exhibited reduced sensitivity, lower reciprocity, and higher tension during interactions, particularly among children with psychopathology. Maternal depression increased child propensity to display Axis-I disorder upon school-entry by fourfold. Sensitive fathering reduced this risk by half. Findings underscore the father's resilience-promoting role in cases of maternal depression and emphasize the need for father-focused interventions.
['Vakrat|Adam|A|', 'Apter-Levy|Yael|Y|', 'Feldman|Ruth|R|']
D000328:Adult D002648:Child D016241:Child of Impaired Parents D002675:Child, Preschool D003863:Depression D003866:Depressive Disorder D005192:Family Health D005219:Father-Child Relations D005220:Fathers D005260:Female D006801:Humans D007223:Infant D008297:Male D009034:Mother-Child Relations D009035:Mothers D011599:Psychopathology
Maternal depression Child psychopathology Fatherhood Longitudinal studies Parent–child interaction