Association Between Atypical Depressive symptoms and Child Empathy, Child Temperament, and Child Emotional Regulation

Tsado, Nadia

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Year:: 2024
Contributor:: Tsado, Nadia (creator); Pellowski, Jennifer (Advisor); McBurney, Shilo (Reader); Brown University. School of Public Health (sponsor)
Genre:: theses
Subject:: South Africa; atypical depression; maternal mental health
Extent:: v, 36 p.

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Abstract:: Atypical depression is common subtype of depression which is more frequently observed in women. This study aims to assess the proportion of moderate to severe atypical depressive symptoms during the antepartum and postpartum period in a Low and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) and investigate whether these symptoms have a different association with child temperament, child empathy, child emotional regulation than maternal typical depressive symptoms during the antepartum period within this population. Pregnant women in the Drakenstein district of Paarl in Western Cape, South Africa were recruited into a birth cohort study (n=992) from March 2012 to March 2015. Depressive symptoms were assessed using items on the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) at 28-32 weeks’ gestation and 12 months postpartum. A cutoff score of 20 or greater on the BDI-II and reported BDI-II depressive symptoms were used to classify depressive symptoms into three categories: minimal to mild typical, moderate to severe atypical, and moderate to severe typical. Several measures were used to assess child emotional regulation, child empathy, and child temperament. Unadjusted and adjusted linear regression models were used to evaluate whether there was an association between type of depression and child socio-emotional development. A total of 579 children completed socio-emotional assessments. Among those categorized as having moderate to severe depressive symptoms, 72% reported atypical depressive symptoms in the antepartum period specifically. A statistically significant association between atypical depression and child negative emotionality was identified and continued to persist after adjustment for key covariates. Atypical depression was not found to be significantly associated with any of the other measures of socio-emotional development. There is a high proportion of depressive symptoms during the antepartum period can be classified as atypical. Mothers with atypical depressive symptoms reported higher scores of negative emotionality and were potentially less able to process their child’s distress than mothers with typical depression. This study underscores the critical need to screen and implement support programs for pregnant women who have atypical depressive symptoms, as these interventions are crucial for positive child development outcomes.
Notes:: Thesis (M. P. H.)--Brown University, 2024

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Citation

Tsado, Nadia, "Association Between Atypical Depressive symptoms and Child Empathy, Child Temperament, and Child Emotional Regulation" (2024). Public Health Theses and Dissertations. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:sj6rb2jw/

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Public Health Theses and Dissertations

Theses and Dissertations for the Public Health department.
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