Research has shown that offspring of depressed caregivers are
at increased risk for maladaptive development and emotional difficulties. Specifically, infants
and toddlers of depressed mothers have been shown to evidence higher percentages of insecure
attachments and more behavioral difficulties than offspring of nondisordered mothers. However,
even in studies that reveal significant differences between children of depressed and
nondepressed caregivers, a substantial number of children with depressed caregivers do not
evidence dysfunction. Such findings have resulted in increased attention to the broader social
context in which children of depressed mothers develop. This investigation examined the direct
influences of maternal depression on child development, as well as the role of contextual risks
that may be particularly heightened in families with depressed parents. Toddlers with depressed
mothers evidenced significantly more insecure attachments than did toddlers with nondisordered
mothers, and this difference was not accounted for by contextual risk. In predicting child
behavior problems, contextual risk was found to mediate the relation between maternal
depression and child behavior problems. Father-report data on child behavior corroborated the
mother report data. Results are discussed in terms of the diversity of functioning in offspring of
depressed caregivers that can be attributed to varied levels of contextual risk accompanying
depression.
The Influence of Children's Cognitive Delay and Behavior Problems on Maternal Depression
