Emotion Regulation in Infants of Depressed Mothers: A Multi-Systems Approach Open Access

Abstract

The goal of the current study was to examine associations between multiple behavioral and biological systems of emotion regulation over the course of infancy and the role of maternal depressive symptoms in predicting these associations. Participants were women with a history of depression and/or anxiety and their infants (n = 242). Women were recruited during pregnancy and their depressive symptoms were measured repeatedly throughout pregnancy and the postpartum. Infant behavioral (temperament, observed affect) and biological (EEG, RSA, cortisol) measures were collected at 3-, 6-, and 12-months of age, and mothers' concurrent depressive symptoms were also measured. Infant baseline RSA and resting cortisol did not significantly interact to predict infant observed negative affect concurrently or prospectively; however, there was a significant main effect for cortisol at 6 months predicting observed negative affect at 12 months. In addition, infants clustered into different emotion regulation profiles based on biology and behavior at 3-, 6-, and 12-months of age, and maternal perinatal depressive symptoms differentially predicted membership in these profiles. Findings highlight the importance of exploring how biological and behavioral domains of emotion regulation relate over the course of infancy and may be associated with depressive symptomatology in mothers. Future research should consider indices of biological responsivity to stressors in addition to baseline or resting measures, as well as how these multiple indices together may predict the development of psychopathology.

Table of Contents

Introduction. 1

Behavioral Systems of Emotion Regulation. 4

Biological Systems of Emotion Regulation. 4

Associations across Behavioral and Biological Domains of Emotion Regulation. 10

The Role of Maternal Depression in the Transmission of Risk for Problems with Emotion Regulation. 12

Current Study. 16

Method. 18

Participants. 18

Procedure. 19

Measures. 22

Data Analytic Strategy. 32

Results. 34

Preliminary Analyses. 34

Hypothesis Testing. 39

Discussion. 44

References. 55

Table 1: Descriptive Statistics of Maternal Depressive Symptom Levels. 75

Table 2: Descriptive Statistics of Infant Behavior Variables. 76

Table 3: Descriptive Statistics of Infant Biological Variables. 77

Table 4: Concurrent Associations among Infant Variables at 3 Months of Age. 78

Table 5: Concurrent Associations among Infant Variables at 6 Months of Age. 79

Table 6: Concurrent Associations among Infant Variables at 12 Months of Age. 80

Table 7: Prospective Associations of Infant Variables from 3 to 6 Months of Age. 81

Table 8: Prospective Associations of Infant Variables from 3 to 12 Months of Age. 82

Table 9: Prospective Associations of Infant Variables from 6 to 12 Months of Age. 83

Table 10: Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Infant RSA and Cortisol Predicting Concurrent Observed Negative Affect at 6 and 12 Months of Age. 84

Table 11: Summary of Hierarchical Regression Analyses for Infant RSA and Cortisol Predicting Prospective Observed Negative Affect from 6 to 12 Months of Age. 85

Table 12: Mean Estimates and Standard Errors of the Estimate of Latent Classes at 6 Months of Age. 86

Table 13: Mean Estimates and Standard Errors of the Estimate of Latent Classes at 12 Months of Age. 87

Table 14: Multinomial Logistic Regression Predicting Likelihood of Risk Class Membership at 3 Months of Age. 88

Table 15: Logistic Regression Predicting Likelihood of Risk Class Membership at 6 Months of Age. 89

Table 16: Logistic Regression Predicting Likelihood of Risk Class Membership at 12 Months of Age. 90

Table 17: Maternal Depressive Symptom Levels Concurrent with Infant Variables. 91

Figure 1: Mean Estimates of Scores for Each Index of Emotion Regulation within Each Latent Class at Infant Age 3 Months. 92

Appendix A: Infant 3 Month Coding. 93

Appendix B: Infant 6 Month Coding. 94

Appendix C: Infant 12 Month Coding. 96

About this Dissertation

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School	Laney Graduate School
Department	Psychology
Degree	PhD
Submission	Dissertation
Language	English
Research Field	Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Developmental
Keyword	emotion regulation maternal depression infants
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Goodman, Sherryl H, Emory University
Committee Members	Bachevalier, Jocelyne, Emory University Bauer, Patricia, Emory University Bliwise, Nancy G., Emory University Ritschel, Lorie, Emory University

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