It is well known that children of depressed mothers display language impairments, attention problems and a range of cognitive difficulties. A study by Ni Yan and Ted Dix of the University of Texas at Austin took a closer look at how this might happen.<\/p>\n
Yan and Dix examined data on 1,364 families from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.<\/p>\n
In addition to the mothers\u2019 depressive symptoms during the child\u2019s first two years and the child\u2019s first-grade cognitive abilities, both verbal and mathematical, the following variables were measured:<\/p>\n
All of these were measured by observing mothers and children interact during play when the child was 3 years old and again when the child was 4\u00bd years old.<\/p>\n
Statistical analyses pointed to children\u2019s social withdrawal<\/strong> and low motivation<\/strong> to engage events actively as key factors that help explain the link between maternal depression during the child\u2019s infancy and poor first-grade performance on cognitive tests.<\/p>\n Relative to other children, children whose mothers were depressed when they were infants were more socially withdrawn<\/strong> by age 3, and this withdrawal in turn was linked to being relatively unmotivated<\/strong> to engage events actively<\/strong> at age 4\u00bd. We know from other research that being unmotivated to engage events is a key predictor of low performance on cognitive tests. As a result, socially withdrawn children are likely to acquire relatively few skills and to lack confidence in their abilities.<\/p>\n When children are withdrawn<\/strong>, mothers are likely to be less sensitive<\/strong> later and to provide less cognitive stimulation<\/strong>. Declines in these parenting qualities in turn predict declines in the child\u2019s motivation<\/strong> to engage events<\/strong>, providing another link to poor performance on cognitive tests. Withdrawn children, who can be difficult to read and who initiate little interaction, can discourage maternal input. And, in a negative feedback loop, insensitive parenting is likely to undermine children\u2019s confidence and the degree to which they explore, persist, and attempt to master activities.<\/p>\n