ERIC Number: EJ1367014
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Dec
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0012-1649
EISSN: EISSN-1939-0599
Maternal Postpartum Depression Impacts Infants' Joint Attention Differentially across Cultures
Astor, Kim; Lindskog, Marcus; Juvrud, Joshua; Wangchuk; Namgyel, Sangay Choden; Wangmo, Tshering; Tshering, Kinzang; Gredebäck, Gustaf
Developmental Psychology, v58 n12 p2230-2238 Dec 2022
We assessed whether the negative association between maternal postpartum depression (PPD) and infants' development of joint attention (gaze following) generalizes from WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) to Majority World contexts. The study was conducted in Bhutan (N = 105, M = 278 days, 52% males) but also draws from publicly available Swedish data (N = 113, M = 302 days, 49% males). We demonstrate that Bhutanese and Swedish infants' development follows the same trajectory. However, Bhutanese infants' gaze following were not related to maternal PPD, which the Swedish infants' were. The results support the notion that there are protecting factors built into the interdependent family model. Despite all the benefits of being raised in a modern welfare state, it seems like Swedish infants, to an extent, are more vulnerable to maternal mental health than Bhutanese infants.
Descriptors: Depression (Psychology), Mothers, Infants, Attention, Eye Movements, Cultural Differences, Correlation, Foreign Countries, Infant Behavior, Child Development
American Psychological Association. Journals Department, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002. Tel: 800-374-2721; Tel: 202-336-5510; Fax: 202-336-5502; e-mail: order@apa.org; Web site: http://www.apa.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Bhutan; Sweden
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A