Table 9.
Characteristics of the studies included in the evaluation for motor development in children.
| First author’s name | Sociodemographic data: 1. Country 2. Maternal mean age 3. Gender of newborns |
Sample size | Design: 1. Study design 2. Time of follow-up 3. Number of groups 4. Description of groups |
Tool used to assess PPD | Prevalence of PPD | Outcomes | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ali94 | Pakistan Mean age: 26.3 years Female babies: 48.8% |
420 | Cohort study 30 months Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
AKUADS | 1 month: 4.8% 2 months: 4.7% 6 months: 5.7% 12 months: 9.2% 18 months: 2.7% 24 months: 6.1% |
Delayed gross motor, fine motor, emotional, cognitive, and language development | At the 2- and 6-month follow-ups, there was no significant impact of maternal depression on children’s gross motor development. However, there was an approximately three-fold higher impact at the 12-month follow-up (adjusted OR = 2.8, 95% CI = 1.2, 6.6). At the 2-, 6-, and 12-month follow-ups, there was no significant impact of maternal depression on children’s fine motor development. At the 18-month follow-up, there was a significant impact; children of depressed mothers had a four times higher risk (adjusted OR = 4.0, 95% CI = 1.4, 11.3). |
| Chen141 | Taiwan Mean age: 26.6 ± 4.2 years Female babies: 42.6% NB: immigrant mothers |
60 | Cross-sectional study Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
EPDS (Depressed = EPDS ⩾ 10) |
31.1% | Child development (global score for cognitive, language, motor, self-regulation, and social development); quality of the home environment | Maternal depressive symptoms had a direct and negative effect on the quality of the home environment (−0.32, p < 0.05). Maternal depressive symptoms did not have a direct effect on child development (0.05, p > 0.05). The quality of the home environment had a significant and positive effect on child development (0.55, p < 0.001). |
| Koutra95 | Crete Mean age: 30.09 ± 4.53 years Female babies: 45.5% |
470 | Cohort study 18 months Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
EPDS (Depressed = EPDS ⩾ 13) |
Not given | Fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, and social-emotional development; receptive and expressive communication | High levels of maternal PPD (EPDS score ⩾ 13) were associated with 5-unit decrease in the fine motor development scale score at 18 months of age. |
| Nasreen97 | Bangladesh Mean age: 24.2 ± 6.7 years Female babies: 50.7% |
652 | Cohort study 1 year Four groups: - No depression - Pregnancy only - Pregnancy and postpartum - Postpartum only |
EPDS (Depressed = EPDS ⩾ 10) |
14.1% at 2–3 months 31.7% at 6–8 months |
Infant growth (underweight at 6–8 months, stunting at 6–8 months); infant motor development | Maternal depressive symptoms at 2–3 months postpartum predicted impaired infant motor development at 6–8 months. |
| Piteo103 | Australia Age: not given Female babies: 53% |
360 | Cohort study 18 months Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
EPDS (Depressed = EPDS ⩾ 12) |
19% | Motor, cognitive, and language development | In the first 6 months postpartum, there were no significant associations between maternal depression and motor development after controlling for infant prematurity, breastfeeding status, and socioeconomic level. There were no significant differences between maternal depression groups for motor development at 18 months based on unadjusted analyses. However, the home environment was a significant predictor of language development. |
| Sutter-Dallay107 | France Mean age: 29.6 ± 4.2 years Female babies: 47.8% |
515 | Cohort study 2 years Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
EPDS (Depressed = EPDS > 12) |
6 weeks: 4.7% 3 months: 4.5% 6 months: 4.3% 12 months: 3.7% 18 months: 5.8% 24 months: 4.3% |
Psychomotor Developmental Index; Mental Developmental Index | No association was found between PND 6 weeks after delivery and the child’s motor performance over the follow-up period. No association was found between EPDS scores and motor scores (B = 0.60, p = 0.24). |
| Wang66 | Taiwan Age (years): Depressed: 28.34 ± 5.52 Nondepressed: 29.45 ± 4.13 Female babies: 55.0% |
60 | Cohort study 1 year Two groups: - PPD - No PPD |
BDI-II | 48.3% | Gross motor, fine motor, expressive language, comprehension-conceptual, situational help, self-help, personal-social, and general development | No significant difference was found between the infant development variables in the two groups (gross motor development: p = 0.514; fine motor development: p = 0.514). |
PPD: postpartum depression; AKUADS: Aga Khan University Anxiety and Depression Scale; EPDS: Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale; BDI-II: Beck Depression Inventory-II; CI: confidence interval; OR: odds ratio; PND: postnatal depression.