Do infants of depressed mothers cry more than other infants?
OBJECTIVE
This study compared the crying behaviour of infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers at 3 and 6 months of age.


METHODS
Twenty-nine depressed and 44 non-depressed mothers, their infants and partners participated in this study. Mothers were asked to complete 24-hour diaries of the amount their infants cried for 1 week.


RESULTS
The diurnal variations in crying patterns of infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers were not significantly different. However, infants of depressed mothers were found to cry significantly more in total per day than infants of non-depressed mothers at 3 months of age, but not at 6 months. The results could not be explained by differences in infant temperament.


CONCLUSIONS
Maternal depression may be a contributory factor to infant crying at 3 months of age.
Milgrom
J
J
Department of Clinical Psychology, Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre, Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia.
Westley
D T
DT
McCloud
P I
PI
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003448:Crying; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D018730:Infant Behavior; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D011644:Puerperal Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D013997:Time Factors