RELATION OF ADOLESCENT POSTNATAL DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY TO MOTHER AND INFANT INTERACTIVE BEHAVIOR AND QUALITY OF STIMULATION IN THE HOME.
Contributors: University of Maryland at Baltimore.
Published: 1988
Number of pages: 264
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.
Description: The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine the relationship of adolescent postnatal depressive symptoms at one- and six-months postnatally to quality stimulation in the home and mother-infant interaction at six-months postnatally. The Riccuiti Multiple Risk Factor Model for parenting provided the conceptual basis for the study.

The sample consisted of 51 mother-infant dyads. The mothers whose mean age was 15.5 years, were primarily Black, unmarried, non-high school graduates who lived in low-income neighborhoods. Infants were first-borns and both mothers and infants were healthy. Data were collected at one- and six-months postnatally in the adolescent mother's home. Depressive symptoms were measured by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at one month and six months. The Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment (HOME) was used to assess quality of stimulation at six months. At six months videotapes of mother-infant interaction during spontaneous play were obtained. The videotaped interaction was analyzed with Clark's Parent-Child Early Relationship Assessment tool.

Fifty-one percent of the subjects reported mild depressive symptoms at one month and 47% reported mild symptoms at six months. HOME scores indicated mothers were verbally emotionally responsive to the infants. However, mother, infant, and dyadic interactive behaviors had many deficits. Depressive symptoms at one month or six months were not significantly correlated to stimulation or interaction at one month or six months. But, subjects who reported depressive symptoms at both one month and six months had significantly lower maternal interactive behavior scores when compared to mothers who were symptomatic at one-month but not at six months. Depressive symptoms at one month predicted depressive symptoms at six months.

It was recommended that clinicians caring for adolescent mothers be alert to their feelings and behaviors at the first postpartum return visit. Also, it was recommended that this study should be replicated with a design which allows for a larger, more diverse sample, relevant and multiple methods for assessing adolescent depressive symptoms as well as the assessment of the subject's emotional and cognitive capacities. Finally, the demographic and contextual variables that might be related to the manifestation of depressive symptoms in adolescent mothers should be studied. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 49-09, Section: B, page: 3681.

Thesis (PH.D.)--UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND AT BALTIMORE, 1988.

School code: 0373.