Maternal Depression and Parenting 1 Responsivity to Offspring’s Expression of Emotion among Childhood-Onset Depressed Mothers

This study examined responsivity of mothers with childhood-onset depression (COD) in relation to children’s overt expression of positive and negative emotion. It was hypothesized that COD and control mothers would differ in contingent responsivity to their children’s expression of both positivity and different types of negative emotionality. Using observations and maternal reports of their own emotional reactions, COD mothers were found to be less responsive to children’s expression of distress. A gender by group interaction was also found with respect to observed maternal responsiveness to child positivity, such that COD mothers were more responsive to girls ’ than boys ’ expression of positivity. The results are discussed in reference to transactional models of early child psychopathology