title: Postnatal depression and faltering growth: a community study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between faltering growth in children and maternal postnatal depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  Children aged < or =2 years were identified from community child health surveillance records if their weights fell across 2 centile channels on standardized growth charts or fell below the second centile. Mothers of these index children were invited to complete the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Those who scored above threshold values on either scale were interviewed with the revised Clinical Interview Schedule. Matched control children were obtained from health visitor records, and records of their weights were obtained. Mothers of control children completed the same questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 196 index children and 567 control children were studied. Significantly more mothers in the index group scored above the threshold for both the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (33% vs 22%; odds ratio [OR]: 1.71; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.16-2.53) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (24% vs 13%; OR: 2.08; 95% CI: 1.33-3.25) questionnaires. Furthermore, clinical interviews with these mothers demonstrated that 21% of the index group and 11% of the control group fulfilled criteria for depressive episode (OR: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.21-2.94).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depression in mothers of children with faltering growth during the first 2 years of life is significantly greater than in mothers of children who are gaining weight appropriately. In view of the high rates of maternal depression in children with poor weight gain, clinical management at presentation of either problem should focus on both members of the mother-child dyad and on the interaction between mother and child. These findings have implications for all professionals who work in primary and secondary health care.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Paediatrics, North Staffordshire Hospital, Stoke on Trent, United Kingdom. lmobri02@gwise.louisville.edu
authors.forename: Louise Margaret
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: O'Brien
authors.forename: Elizabeth Gardner
authors.initials: EG
authors.lastname: Heycock
authors.forename: Mariam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanna
authors.forename: Peter Watts
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: John Lee
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Cox
mesh_terms: D019052:Depression, Postpartum; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations