Publish dateThursday 19 April 2012 - 12:10
Story Code : 40252
Depressed moms wake sleeping babies unnecessarily
Mothers struggling with depression or anxiety are more likely to unnecessarily wake up their babies in the middle of the night before the crying begins.
Some studies suggest that infants who wake up more often during the night can cause higher depressive symptoms in their mothers Press TV reported.

Researchers of the Pennsylvania State University say the story is more likely to go the other way round, meaning that worried and depressed moms are more likely to disturb their babies’ sleep.

The team placed multiple cameras in the homes of 45 families having babies between 1 to 24 months old. Fourteen of the studied mothers reported elevated symptoms of depression.

The cameras recorded home activities from the beginning of bedtime until the next morning. Mothers were asked to report how often their babies had awakened.

“To our surprise, we found that moms with elevated depressive symptoms and those with elevated worry were much more likely to seek out their babies in the middle of the night and be with them even when their babies didn’t need attention,” said lead author Douglas Teti.

“This, in turn, was associated with increased night waking in the infants of depressed mothers, compared to the infants of non-depressed mothers,” Teti added. “Especially interesting about this was that when depressed mothers sought out their infants at night, their infants did not appear to be in need of parental help. They were either sound asleep or perhaps awake, but not distressed.”

According to the study published in the journal Child Development, “sleep problems often endure beyond early childhood and can have a negative effect on various aspects of development, including emotional, behavioral, and academic functioning.

“Understanding how maternal depression and sleep problems combine to affect children's development is important to developing interventions to help reduce these negative consequences," explained Teti.
Source : Afghan Voice Agency (AVA), International Service
https://avapress.com/vdceww8e.jh87nik1bj.html
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