Previous research has shown that children of depressed mothers are at heightened risk for a variety of behavioral and emotional disturbances. In this longitudinal study of 144 mother-child pairs, the impact of maternal depression on children's psycho-biological and behavioral development is being explored. At the first assessment point, when the children were 14 months of age, it was found that infants of depressed mothers exhibit atypical patterns of frontal electro-encephalographic (EEG) activity, characterized by reduced left frontal activation. It is hypothesized that reduced left frontal activation reflects an increased vulnerability to experience negative affect, a vulnerability that may play a role in the etiology of depression and other mental disorders. When assessments of children's brain activity and behavior were conducted at 39 months of age, it was found that children whose mothers remained depressed across the two time points showed stable patterns of reduced left frontal brain activity. Furthermore, children reported to have behavior problems at 39 months of age were more likely to have atypical front EEG patterns than those without behavior problems.
The aim of the proposed research is to assess the children and their mothers at a third time point, when the children turn 6 years of age. This phase of the longitudinal study will allow us to evaluate the clinical significance of early measures of brain activity for predicting later psychological adjustment of school-aged children who are at risk for emotional and behavioral problems.
The specific aims are: 1. to examine the cumulative effects of maternal depression on children's development, as reflected in both behavioral and psychobiological measures. Behavioral measures are designed to assess children's mental health, competence and adaptive functioning, and social relationships. Psychobiological measures consist of frontal EEG patterns, autonomic activity (heart rate and vagal tone), salivary cortisol, and sleep patterns. 2. To determine, in this sample of children who are at risk for behavioral and emotional disturbances, the extent to which psychobiological measures are predictive of children's emotional and behavioral disturbances when they reach early elementary school age.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01MH047117-08
Application #
2674992
Study Section
Child Psychopathology and Treatment Review Committee (CPT)
Program Officer
Nottelmann, Editha
Project Start
1991-02-01
Project End
2000-05-31
Budget Start
1998-06-01
Budget End
2000-05-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
1998
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Washington
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
135646524
City
Seattle
State
WA
Country
United States
Zip Code
98195
Ashman, Sharon B; Dawson, Geraldine; Panagiotides, Heracles (2008) Trajectories of maternal depression over 7 years: relations with child psychophysiology and behavior and role of contextual risks. Dev Psychopathol 20:55-77
Dawson, Geraldine; Ashman, Sharon B; Panagiotides, Heracles et al. (2003) Preschool outcomes of children of depressed mothers: role of maternal behavior, contextual risk, and children's brain activity. Child Dev 74:1158-75
Ashman, Sharon B; Dawson, Geraldine; Panagiotides, Heracles et al. (2002) Stress hormone levels of children of depressed mothers. Dev Psychopathol 14:333-49
Dawson, G; Ashman, S B; Carver, L J (2000) The role of early experience in shaping behavioral and brain development and its implications for social policy. Dev Psychopathol 12:695-712
Dawson, G; Frey, K; Self, J et al. (1999) Frontal brain electrical activity in infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers: relation to variations in infant behavior. Dev Psychopathol 11:589-605
Dawson, G; Frey, K; Panagiotides, H et al. (1999) Infants of depressed mothers exhibit atypical frontal electrical brain activity during interactions with mother and with a familiar, nondepressed adult. Child Dev 70:1058-66
Dawson, G; Frey, K; Panagiotides, H et al. (1997) Infants of depressed mothers exhibit atypical frontal brain activity: a replication and extension of previous findings. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 38:179-86
Dawson, G; Panagiotides, H; Klinger, L G et al. (1997) Infants of depressed and nondepressed mothers exhibit differences in frontal brain electrical activity during the expression of negative emotions. Dev Psychol 33:650-6
Dawson, G (1994) Frontal electroencephalographic correlates of individual differences in emotion expression in infants: a brain systems perspective on emotion. Monogr Soc Res Child Dev 59:135-51