Article Abstract:
It is thought that children of depressed mothers have a variety of related difficulties in social and emotional adjustment, but the origins of their difficulties are unknown. One study, for example, found that difficulties were not related to mother's depression, but to mother's psychological distress in general. In a previous, study the authors found that 7- to 13-year-old children of nondepressed arthritic mothers and nondepressed mothers in the community were less likely to have adjustment difficulties than same-age children of depressed mothers and nondepressed mothers who had other psychiatric problems. The authors have now conducted a 10-month follow-up on 44 of the subjects involved in the prior study. The follow-up sample consisted of 12 depressed outpatients, 9 nondepressed outpatients, and 23 community women and their children. Psychological stress was rated for all the mothers, and the children's emotional and social adjustment were assessed as well. These results were compared with the original data gathered 10 months earlier. Mothers' symptoms of depression were significantly improved over the period, but children's improvements, while evident, lagged behind. Specifically, children improved least during the 10 months on internalizing behavior as reported by mothers and observed by clinicians. This suggests that the adjustment difficulties experienced by children of psychologically distressed mothers do not diminish as quickly as their mothers' symptoms. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
The authors compared the adjustment rates of four groups of children (ages 7-13): those of depressed mothers, of nondepressed psychiatric patients, of nondepressed medical patients, and of nondepressed mothers. The children's adjustment was rated by clinicians on the Child Adjustment Schedule and by the mothers on the Child Behavior Checklist. Children of depressed mothers had the highest proportion of problems. However, an overlap was noted between the problems of these children and those of the children of the nondepressed psychiatric patients. The results challenge findings that children's adjustment difficulties are specifically related to depression in a parent. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
An analysis of the deployment of attention task by depressed and nondepressed individuals reveals the same type of response to all kinds of stimuli in clinically depressed individuals. The nondepressed individuals exhibit a preference for positive or neutral-content stimuli, due to a 'protective' bias nature. This implies the inability of the depressed individuals to show positive bias against negative stimuli.
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