Nursery World - Maternal depression a factor in young children's behavioural problems

Children of depressed mothers are more likely to experience emotional, behavioural and verbal difficulties as they grow older, according to a new study.

Researchers from Birkbeck College, University of London and King’s College London analysed data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of almost 14,000 mothers and their children born in Bristol, in and around 1991 and 1992.

They looked at the levels of anxiety and depression of 3,300 mothers and their children during and after pregnancy, and at seven and eight-years-old.

The findings revealed that children whose mothers experienced anxiety and depression during and after pregnancy were more likely to develop emotional, behavioural and verbal difficulties by the age of seven and eight.

This likelihood was increased if the mother suffering pre-natal anxiety and depression was a teenager, living in poverty or had a low educational attainment.

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