Tied to mommy*s womb?: the effects of maternal prenatal emotional complaints and parent-child interactive behaviour on infants*, toddlers* and preschoolers* self-regulation and socio-emotional adjustment; Part II

Children with a depressed mother are at significantly greater risk for multiple
behavioural and emotional problems (Beardslee, Versage & Gladstone, 1998).
Recently, even anxious and depressive symptoms experienced by the mother during
pregnancy are found significantly related to temperamental and behavioural
disturbances in young and school-aged children (see e.g., Van den Berg &
Marcoen, 2004). The difficulties in early childhood particularly include
attentional, emotional and behavioural problems, which may point to quite
widespread influences on the developing brain (Taylor & Rogers, 2005). However,
maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy explained only between 7 and 22%
of the variance in the infants* temperament and childhood behaviour problems.
Moreover, it has also been noted that children with (prenatally) depressed
mothers do not necessarily display behavioural and emotional dysfunctions and
sometimes even show adaptive outcomes (for reviews see Beardslee et al., 1998;
Cicchetti & Toth, 1998; Cummings & Davies, 1994). The present study focuses on
two important factors that might contribute to the variation in socio-emotional
adjustment of infants, toddlers and preschoolers of mothers with emotional
complaints during pregnancy. First, the child*s ability of self-regulation.
Emotional and behavioural regulation represent an important child
characteristic that could promote resiliency or exacerbate risk in the context
of maternal depression in the prenatal period and in the first years of a
child*s life (Luoma et al, 2001; Silk et al., 2005). Despite numerous studies
demonstrating a strong biological component to self-regulation capacities
(Rothbart & Bates, 1998), evidence also suggests that development of
self-regulation (e.g., successful coping with negative circumstances) is highly
dependent on the caregivers* daily interactive behaviour pattern.
The second factor that is studied specifically is the presence c.q. interactive
behaviour of a non-depressed father (Reck et al., 2004). Pelaez et al. (1994)
found that children of depressed mothers seemed less depressed after contact
with a familiar non-depressed nursery school teacher and Hossain et al. (1994)
found that the negative behaviours that infants displayed in interaction with
their depressed mothers were not associated to the non-depressed fathers. When
the fathers interacted positively, the infants responded with positive
behaviour and less depressive signs. It was concluded that non-depressed
fathers may indeed buffer the effects of maternal depression on infant
behaviour. However, studies examining the contribution of father*s interactive
behaviour to the self-regulation skills of children are scarce.

The relationships between emotional complaints of the mothers during pregnancy
and the self regulation capacities, temperament, mental and motor development
of the children are studied, taking into account the influence of the father,
that could be a protective or reinforcing factor. The study will provide
insight in the extent that care should be given to pregnant women or young
parents with emtional complaints to improve child development. Theoretically is
important to study the extent that the 'fetal programming effect' is reinforced
or weakened through the quality of the parent-child interaction. In addition
the study may have practical value by showing which pattern of self regulation
capacities of the children and which way of parent-child interaction is
associated positively with the development of the children.

Twice a home visit is done, videotaping games with the children as well as
mother and father-child interaction during two games. Several measurements are
used.

Children
* Mental and motor development is assessed by the mothers with the Ages and
Stages Questionnaire (ASQ; Bricker & Squires, 1996). In addition the Bayley
Infant Scales of Development (BSID II; Van der Meulen et al., 2002) are used
for children until 3* years and the Snijders Oomen Niet-verbale intelligentie
test (SON-R; Tellegen et al., 1998) is used for children until 5 years of age.
* Child Temperament is assessed by the parents with the (Early) Child Behavior
Questionnaire ((E)CBQ; Rothbart, 2003).
* Self-regulation is assessed with the 1) *dysregulation* dimenseion of the
Infant Toddler Socio-Emotional Assessment (ITSEA; Carter & Briggs-Cowan,1999).
2) *coping* behaviour is observed during standardized games 3) Physiological
regulation is assessed during the coping games by three cortisol measurements.
* Parent-child interaction quality is assessed using the video-recording and
the Emotional Availability Scales (EAS; Biringen, Robinson, & Emde, 1998) and
Erickson Rating Scales (Erickson, Sroufe, & Egeland, 1985).
* Quality of attachment is assessed after the home visit by the researcher
(Waters & Dean, 1985)

Parents
The Adult Temperament Questionnaire is answered by the parents (ATQ; Rothbart
et al., 2000). The coping style of the parents is assessed using the Coping
Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS; De Ridder & Van Heck, 2004). The STAI
(State-Trait Anxiety inventory, van der Ploeg et al., 1980) is used to assess
anxiety is a personality characteristic.

Teachers
The Teacher Report Form (TRF) is answered concerning day care or school
behaviour. The Preschool Social Behavior Questionnaire (PSBQ; Tremblay et al.,
1992) the Gedragsvragenlijst voor Peuters & Kleuters (GVPK; Goossens et al.,
2000) provide information on social behaviour with peers.

The nature and extent of the study is judged to be moderate, as the parents are
asked to visit only once a health center for the developmental test of their
child and are visited twice at home. In addition they are asked to answer
questionnaires concerning themselves as well as their child and they are
required to play games with their child that are recorded. The child is
required to participate in several games known to be enjoyed by most of the
children.

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