TY - JOUR
T1 - Effects of maternal depression in the Still-Face Paradigm
T2 - A meta-analysis
AU - Graham, Katharine A
AU - Blissett, Jacqueline
AU - Antoniou, Evangelia E
AU - Zeegers, Maurice P
AU - McCleery, Joseph P
N1 - Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/2
Y1 - 2018/2
N2 - The Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) enables researchers to examine the quality of mother-infant interactions. In typical infants, a classic still-face effect (SFE) has been confirmed whereby infants demonstrate reduced positive affect (PA), reduced gaze (GA), and increased negative affect (NA). Recently, the SFP has been used to examine the effect of maternal depression upon infant behaviour. However, the nature and consistency of the behavioural responses of infants of depressed mothers during the SFP remains unclear. In the current meta-analysis, we examined whether or not infants of depressed mothers demonstrate the classic SFE, as well as whether or not these infants display the same levels of PA, NA, and GA as their counterparts with non-depressed mothers. Results revealed that infants of depressed mothers display the classic SFE like infants of their non-depressed counterparts. However, infants of depressed mothers also demonstrated significantly higher levels of PA during the still-face episode. One potential interpretation of this finding is that infants prior experience of similar, depressed interactions with their mothers, encourages them to amplify their positive attachment signals in order to engage maternal attention and response. Alternatively, or additionally, infants of depressed mothers could be using PA in order to regulate their own NA.
AB - The Still-Face Paradigm (SFP) enables researchers to examine the quality of mother-infant interactions. In typical infants, a classic still-face effect (SFE) has been confirmed whereby infants demonstrate reduced positive affect (PA), reduced gaze (GA), and increased negative affect (NA). Recently, the SFP has been used to examine the effect of maternal depression upon infant behaviour. However, the nature and consistency of the behavioural responses of infants of depressed mothers during the SFP remains unclear. In the current meta-analysis, we examined whether or not infants of depressed mothers demonstrate the classic SFE, as well as whether or not these infants display the same levels of PA, NA, and GA as their counterparts with non-depressed mothers. Results revealed that infants of depressed mothers display the classic SFE like infants of their non-depressed counterparts. However, infants of depressed mothers also demonstrated significantly higher levels of PA during the still-face episode. One potential interpretation of this finding is that infants prior experience of similar, depressed interactions with their mothers, encourages them to amplify their positive attachment signals in order to engage maternal attention and response. Alternatively, or additionally, infants of depressed mothers could be using PA in order to regulate their own NA.
KW - Journal Article
U2 - 10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.12.001
DO - 10.1016/j.infbeh.2017.12.001
M3 - Article
C2 - 29304347
SN - 0163-6383
VL - 50
SP - 154
EP - 164
JO - Infant Behavior & Development
JF - Infant Behavior & Development
ER -