Parenthood in the context of maternal depression at the end of the infant's first year of life

• Main Authors: Cesar Augusto Piccinini, Giana Bitencourt Frizzo, Ivani Brys, Rita de Cássia Sobreira Lopes
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas
• Series: Estudos de Psicologia (Campinas)
• Subjects: pais; depressão materna; poder familiar
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0103-166X2014000200006&lng=en&tlng=en

The present study investigated parenthood in the context of maternal depression, at the end of the first year of the infant's life. The participants of the study were 22 families, from different socioeconomic levels, divided into two groups, one with mothers who did not present indicators of depression (n=12) and another group with mothers who did (n=10), based on the Beck Depression Inventory. All the mothers were primiparous and lived with the child's father, the babies were approximately 12 months of age. The mothers and fathers participated in an interview that investigated several parenting aspects. Qualitative content analysis of the interviews indicated that, compared to the group without depression, the depressed mothers, as well as their husbands, reported more difficulties regarding division tasks, financial concerns, and divergences and conflicts in child care. These results corroborate other studies which emphasized that the presence of indicators of maternal depression can cause difficulties in parenting.