Maternal Depression and Family Media Use: A Questionnaire and Diary Analysis

We describe the association between postpartum depression and the quantity and content of infant media use. Households with depressed mothers viewed twice as much television as households with non-depressed mothers did, and depressed mothers appeared to derive comparatively greater pleasure from tel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of child and family studies 2012-04, Vol.21 (2), p.208-216
Main Authors: Bank, Anna M., Barr, Rachel, Calvert, Sandra L., Parrott, W. Gerrod, McDonough, Susan C., Rosenblum, Katherine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Behavioral Science and Psychology
Child and School Psychology
Child development
Children
Cognitive Development
Correlation
Decision making
Depression
Depression (Psychology)
Diaries
Families & family life
Family Environment
Households
Infants
Language Skills
Maternal depression
Media
Mental depression
Motherhood
Mothers
Original Paper
Parent Influence
Parent Participation
Preschool Children
Psychology
Questionnaires
Skill Development
Social Sciences
Sociology
Television
Television Viewing
Thinking Skills
Young Children
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Summary:We describe the association between postpartum depression and the quantity and content of infant media use. Households with depressed mothers viewed twice as much television as households with non-depressed mothers did, and depressed mothers appeared to derive comparatively greater pleasure from television viewing. Maternal depression was associated with an increased exposure to child-directed content by 6–9-month-old infants, although it was not associated with an increased exposure to adult-directed programming. Depressed mothers also reported being less likely to sit and talk with their children during television use or to consult outside sources of information about media. This increase in television exposure without corresponding parental involvement could negatively affect developmental outcomes.
ISSN:1062-1024
1573-2843
DOI:10.1007/s10826-011-9464-1