.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
Return
Postpartum Depression and the Emerging Mother-Infant Relationship: Associations With Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor Medication Use
.png){kind=icon}
PRE
AI
F
Y
DOI：10.1016/j.jaacop.2025.12.001.png)
.png){kind=icon}
Original request for help.png){kind=icon}
Share.png){kind=icon}
Save
Abstract
En 中文
Objective: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a major mental health issue and affects up to 1 in 5 women with significant downstream consequences for cognitive and social-emotional health of children. Effective treatments for PPD exist but are not always accessible or acceptable to new mothers. One such treatment is selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). This study investigated the role of SSRI medication use in the developing mother-infant relationship. Method: Participants were enrolled in this longitudinal study when their infants were 2 to 6 months old. Of the 67 mothers included in the sample, 25 were healthy controls, 25 were diagnosed with PPD and chose not to initiate SSRI treatment, and 17 were diagnosed with PPD and chose to take an SSRI. Self-report measures of depression, parenting-related stress, and bonding; an observational measure of mother-infant interaction quality; and salivary oxytocin were collected across 2 visits spaced 3 months apart. Results: Although depression symptoms decreased across both PPD groups from visit 1 to visit 2, mothers in the SSRI group reported greater improvements in the quality of their relationship with their infant. Ratings of observed maternal sensitivity and dyadic interaction quality were consistently high across groups and ages. However, infants of mothers with PPD did not show expected gains in observed social engagement over this period. Conclusion: Our results, though preliminary, suggest that SSRI use is associated with improvements in perceived mother-infant relationship quality, above and beyond what is explained by depression symptoms. However, potential impacts of maternal depression on infant social development remain. Plain language summary: Postpartum depression is a common experience for new mothers that can have long-term impacts on mothers and their babies. This study considered whether medication use (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) helped to improve the mother-infant relationship. Researchers found that new mothers who chose to treat their depression with medication (n = 17) felt more bonded to their babies at 3-month followup than mothers who chose not to treat with medication (n = 25). This was in spite of no observed difference in mother-infant play. These results suggest promise for medication beyond reducing depression symptoms in mothers.
Keywords:
infant development
mother-infant relationship
postpartum depression
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Journal
J
IF:
0
Papers:
69
Citations:
0
Organization
Cited Papers