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Perinatal depression and developmental risk of the infant: Analysis of a clinical sample and assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

C. Pucci ,
M. Caccialupi O. P. ,
M. Panfili ,
N. Giacchetti ,
F. Aceti  and
C. Sogos
C. Pucci*
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
M. Caccialupi O. P.
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
M. Panfili
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
N. Giacchetti
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
F. Aceti
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
C. Sogos
Affiliation:
Human Neuroscience, University of Rome - La Sapienza, Rome, Italy
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Studies on large samples agree on the negative impact of maternal perinatal depression (PD) on child’s cognitive development. Early experience with insensitive maternal interactions appears to be predictive of poorer cognitive functioning. These children present a higher risk for the onset of socioemotional development, nutrition, growth and sleep disorders. Research on Covid-19 pandemic suggests that families, particularly mothers, may be at increased risk of psychological distress.

Objectives

This study evaluates the effect of perinatal depression on child development and the impact of distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Methods

We designed a case-control study comparing, during Covid-19 pandemic, a group-A of children of mothers with PD (n=19), with a group-B of children of healthy mothers (n=21). The age of the children recruited was 4-35 months. Participating mothers underwent DP3-Interview and the socioemotional and adaptive-behavior Bayley’s scales by telephone and completed an online survey (IES-R).

Results

We found significantly lower scores on the Bayley socioemotional scale and in all the DP3-scales, in group-A. There is an inversely proportional correlation between the age of these children and overall development score of the DP3. On the IES-R scale, the medium scores in both groups show no psychological distress as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic, although mothers with PD show borderline total scores and higher hyperarousal scale values.

Conclusions

This study confirms that PD is a risk factor for the onset of disorders in all areas of the child’s development. Mothers with PD are less likely to manage psychological distress secondary to the pandemic.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

Mother-child interactionChild developmentCOVID-19Perinatal depression
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S95
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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