Valerie E. Whiffen

Infants of postpartum depressed mothers: temperament and cognitive status.

This study examined the association of postpartum depression with specific infant characteristics. Twenty-five diagnosed depressed and 25 nondepressed mothers and their 2-month-old infants participated in the study. The mothers completed measures of infant temperament and difficulty associated with infant care, and the infants were assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Group comparisons indicated that, compared with the infants of the nondepressed mothers, the infants of the depressed women were less competent cognitively and expressed more negative emotions during the testing. The depressed mothers perceived their infants as more difficult to care for and more bothersome than did the nondepressed mothers, but did not attribute these difficulties to the temperament of their infants. These findings suggest that postpartum depression is associated with an identifiable pattern of infant behavior that may exacerbate depressed womens mood.

Mediators of the Link between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Emotional Distress A Critical Review

A history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is a risk factor for adult emotional distress, including symptoms of depression, anxiety, dissociation, and trauma. However, CSA is likely associated with adult distress indirectly through an impact on mediating variables. In a review of the empirical literature, the authors found support for the roles of shame or self-blame, interpersonal difficulties, and avoidant coping strategies as mediators. In addition, emotional distress appears to mediate links between CSA and other adverse outcomes, such as alcohol abuse and revictimization. The authors conclude with a number of methodological and conceptual recommendations.

Comparison of Postpartum and Nonpostpartum Depression: Clinical Presentation, Psychiatric History, and Psychosocial Functioning.

This study compared a sample of postpartum women diagnosed with depression with a nonpostpartum depressed group and 2 nondepressed control groups. Womens depressive episodes were compared to determine whether differences existed in symptomatology, previous history, or course. Results indicate that postpartum depression tends to be relatively mild. Both depressed groups had high rates of positive psychiatric history and were equally likely to have recovered at a 6-month follow-up. Groups were also compared on psychosocial variables known to covary with depression: interpersonal relations, stress, and coping. A series of multivariate analyses of covariance showed few differences between the depressed groups that were not attributable to symptom severity, although postpartum depressed women did report better marital relations than did the nonpostpartum depressed women. These findings suggest that there is little to distinguish postpartum from nonpostpartum depression beyond differences in symptom severity.

Is postpartum depression a distinct diagnosis

Abstract Controversy exists about the relationship between postpartum and nonpostpartum depression in both research and practice. While some researchers argue that these diagnoses cannot be differentiated, others insist that postpartum depression is distinct. The construct validity of the diagnosis “postpartum depression” is evaluated by critically reviewing the empirical evidence regarding prevalence, symptomatology, course, duration, relapse, and etiology. The literature suggests that women are at elevated risk for depression in the postpartum period. However, postpartum depressive episodes tend to be mild and to resolve quickly, which suggests that postpartum depression is best conceptualized as an adjustment disorder. Etiologically, postpartum depression is related to the same variables that predict nonpostpartum depression. These findings suggest that postpartum depression does not differ qualitatively from nonpostpartum depression. The implications of this conclusion for research and treatment are considered.

Attachment and Perceived Social Support in Late Adolescence The Interaction Between Working Models of Self and Others

Research has shown that self-perceptions are associated with perceived social support. Attachment theory suggests that perceptions of social support are afunction of two types of internal working models: model of self (beliefs about self-worth) and model of others (beliefs about the availability and responsiveness of others). This study investigated the relationship between models of self and others and perceived social support. Undergraduates (143 females, 73 males) completed questionnaires assessing attachment to parents andfriends and perceived social support. Analyses confirmed that individuals reporting positive models of both self and others (secure attachment) also reported the highest levels of perceived social supportfrom parents andfriends and attachment tofriends. A negative model of self or other (insecure attachment) had a negative impact on perceived social support and attachment to friends. A negative model of self had a particularly negative impact on attachment to friends for males.

Are gender differences in depression explained by gender differences in co-morbid anxiety?

BACKGROUND This review tested the hypothesis that gender differences in depression rates are a function of gender differences in co-morbid anxiety disorders. METHOD We identified studies using diagnostic criteria, and reporting rates of pure depression, pure anxiety and co-morbid depression and anxiety, separately for females and males. The results of these studies were examined to assess the level of support for the co-morbidity hypothesis. RESULTS Although some studies supported or partially supported the hypothesis, the methodologically superior studies did not. CONCLUSIONS We conclude that women are more likely than men to be diagnosed with either disorder alone or co-morbidly. Furthermore, the ratio of women to men who experience anxiety alone or anxiety in combination with depression tends to be higher than the ratio of women to men who experience depression alone. Attempts to explain the gender difference in rates of depression would benefit from an understanding that women also are more likely to experience anxiety.

Intimate Relationships Moderate the Association Between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Depression

The authors examined adult attachment, intimacy, and partner physical abuse as potential mediators or moderators of the association between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and depression. Contrary to previous research, our results showed that being a survivor of CSA was not necessarily associated with higher levels of physical abuse or with lower levels of intimacy. Thus, the relationship variables did not mediate the association between CSA and depression. However, they did moderate this relationship. CSA survivors were both better protected from depression when they perceived their relationships to be of high quality and more vulnerable to depression when they did not than were nonsurvivors. However, an exception occurred when their relationships were physically abusive: CSA survivors who were being physically abused reported fewer depressive symptoms than did nonsurvivors in the same situation. This finding was interpreted in terms of attachment theory and the self-verification hypothesis.

Mediators of the Link Between Childhood Sexual Abuse and Adult Depressive Symptoms

A history of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is strongly associated with adult depression. The goal of the present study was to explore potential mediators of the CSA-depression link. The potential mediators were variables known to be associated with depression: interpersonal problems, gender role orientation, sociotropy, and self-silencing. The participants were 109 women and 83 men recruited from the community, approximately one third of whom had a history of CSA. The results indicated that gender role orientation, sociotropy, and self-silencing were not associated with a history of CSA. However, both men and women with a history of CSA reported more inter-personal problems than did individuals without this history. Whereas women reported being distant and controlling, men reported lacking assertiveness and taking too much responsibility in their relationships. These interpersonal variables partially mediated the link between CSA and depressive symptoms. Thus, in part, CSA survivors may be at risk for depression because they experience interpersonal problems.

Refining strategies for research on self-representations in emotional disorders

This article examines a number of conceptual and methodological issues relevant to the investigation of self-representations in emotional disorders, and suggests ways to refine this areass research strategies. We first trace the influence of previous work in personality theory and cognitive sciences on cognitive models of clinical disorders, noting the central role of the schema contruct. Issues such as stimulus generation, subject selection, and the importance of priming cognitive structures before testing for their operation are highlighted as ways to access and capture the complexity of self-construal. In addition, schema conceptualizations and research are examined in light of ecological validity. We argue that schematic structures can be usefully compared to personal narratives which structure interpersonal experience. This view suggests that we move beyond the investigation of the way in which subjects process static stimuli and focus on how subjects process information about dynamic interpersonal events in which they themselves participate. Specific suggestions for research are provided.

Self-silencing mediates the link between marital conflict and depression

The Silencing the Self model of depression (Jack, 1991) proposes that women are at risk for depression when they suppress their true thoughts and feelings to avoid conflict. Using a community sample of 115 couples, the present study investigated whether self-silencing mediates the relationship between marital conflict and depressive symptoms. Results indicated that both men and women who perceived their marriages as conflicted tended to hide their anger while pretending to go along with their partners opinions or wishes which, along with a tendency to judge oneself by external standards, also mediated the relationship between marital conflict and depressive symptoms. The silencing model appears to describe the development of both mens and womens depression in conflicted marriages and may be refined by focusing on how individuals cope with anger in intimate relationships.