Treating infant sleep disturbance: does maternal mood impact upon effectiveness?
OBJECTIVE
To explore whether mild-to-moderate maternal depression affects the effectiveness of a behavioural approach to treating infant sleep disturbance (ISD).


METHODS
The health records of 90 mothers attending an inpatient parenting service for management of their 5-12-month-old infant's sleep difficulties were examined. These records contained detailed, nurse-completed, 24-hour behaviour charts of infant sleeping and crying. Participants were allocated to the depression group based on Edinburgh Depression Scale score and/or review of mental health assessment notes.


RESULTS
There were no differences between infants of mothers with (n= 39) or without (n= 51) depression on either (i) the severity of their initial sleeping difficulty, or (ii) their response to behavioural treatment. Both groups showed significant improvements over the 5-day stay on all sleep variables observed, including number of night wakings, time to fall asleep, time spent crying at night and total time slept at night.


CONCLUSIONS
Mild-to-moderate maternal depression does not appear to attenuate ISD behavioural treatment outcomes. Given ISD treatment has been shown to improve maternal mood, the results of this study argue against recommendations initially to address maternal mood in isolation when managing ISD.
Crncec
Rudi
R
MARCS Auditory Laboratories, Sydney South West Area Health Service, Liverpool Hospital, Mental Health Centre (Level 1: ICAMHS), Locked Bag 7103, Liverpool BC, NSW 1871, Australia. rudi.crncec@sswahs.nsw.gov.au
Cooper
Elizabeth
E
Matthey
Stephen
S
D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008485:Medical Audit; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009517:New South Wales; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult