Journal of Depression and Anxiety
Open Access

Abstract

Depressed Mothers Show Increased Anxiety and Negativity and Differential Salivary Cortisol in Response to Infant Cries

Akbari E, Gonzalez A, Dudin A, Steiner M and Fleming AS

Objective: The impact of postpartum depression on mother-infant interaction, affective responses to infant cries, as well as hormonal and autonomic responses to infant stimuli were examined in a sample of primiparous and multiparous women.

Methods: A sample of 140 depressed and non-depressed women where randomly assigned to one of two conditions: 1) cry (pain; hunger); and 2) neutral (female neutral voice). Emotional response scores, salivary cortisol, and heart rate were collected. Depression was designated if women scored 12 or above on the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS).

Results: Depressed mothers reported feeling more anxious and negative when listening to infant cries and responded more strongly to the pain as opposed to the hunger cries compared to non-depressed mothers. Depressed mothers also showed higher overall cortisol levels compared to non-depressed mothers, with non-depressed mothers demonstrating a slight increase in response to the cries, while depressed mothers had a blunted response to the cries. No differences were reported in maternal heart-rate.

Conclusions: PPD has a clear impact on a mother’s interaction with her infant which in turn, can have substantial effects on the infant’s social and emotional development.