Even Mild Depressive Symptoms in Mothers can Affect the Child's Emotional Health

Even mild long-term depressive symptoms among mothers are associated with emotional problems among small kids such as hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and anxiety, reports a new study.

Mild long-term depressive symptoms among moms can affect the child's emotional well-being and may cause hyperactivity, aggressiveness, and anxiety. The findings of the study are published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.//

The father's depressive symptoms affected the child's emotional problems only if the mother was depressed as well. The mother's symptoms, however, affected the child even if the father was not depressed.

Clinical Depression - Causes Symptoms Diagnosis Treatment FAQ
Clinical Depression is a serious medical condition that affects majority of people at some point in their lives. Symptoms of clinical depression include sleep disorder, loss of appetite.

‘Depression among parents both during or after pregnancy not only affects the person who is suffering from depression but also has a long-term influence on the well-being of the newborn child. ’
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Moderate depressive symptoms can be observed in over 20% of parents in Finland. Most serious symptoms are seen in less than 9% of mothers and around 2.5% of fathers.

"Even in cases of mild depression, it is important that the symptoms are identified and the parents are offered support as early as possible, if necessary already during the pregnancy," explains Visiting Researcher Johanna Pietikäinen from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL).

"In families, depression experienced by the mother has a key impact on the child's well-being. In Finland, the maternity clinic system functions well, but attention should be paid to depressive symptoms among mothers over a longer period: from the pregnancy through to the end of the child's first year of age," she adds.

Depression - Symptom Evaluation
Depression occurs due to alterations in the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain.

One parent's depression also puts the other at risk
The depression of one parent is a factor that can put the other parent at risk of depression as well. In addition, depressive symptoms among mothers and fathers are quite long-term: they can start already during pregnancy and continue past the child's first birthday.

"It is important to monitor the mental well-being of both parents during pregnancy and after the birth of the child, and if one parent shows symptoms of depression, then the symptoms of the other parent should also be examined. Currently, however, fathers' psychological well-being is not necessarily covered by depression questionnaires in maternity clinics, for example," Pietikäinen points out.

Depression - Types, Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment
Depression is one of the most common mental disorders affecting approximately 340 million people in the world. No one is immune from depression - it occurs in people of all social classes, all countries and all cultural settings.

Prior depression is the most significant risk factor
Long-term depression is an indication that depression may have been experienced already before pregnancy. Previous experience of depression was, in fact, one of the key risk factors for moderate or severe depressive symptoms.

Other significant risk factors included sleep deprivation during pregnancy, stress, anxiety, and a bad family environment. These most prominent risk factors were predictors for depression among both mothers and fathers.

Playing Mahjong can Help You Cope with Depression
Are you feeling depressed? Playing Mahjong can help improve your mental health among older Chinese. Poor mental health is a major issue in China, which accounts for 17% of the global disease burden of mental disorders. Therefore, people who play mahjong are less likely to feel depressed.

Source-Eurekalert