The literature has few studies on the quality of the mother-child interaction when mothers suffer from chronic anxiety and depression. This study aimed to compare characteristics of the interaction between 14-month-old children and their mothers who presented symptoms of chronic anxiety or depression with those of 14-month-old children and their mothers who did not present mental problems. The sample consisted of 40 mother-infant dyads selected from a prospective cohort study. They were assessed using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and the Beck Depression Inventory, at three time points: during pregnancy and at 6 months and 14 months of the infant’s life. Three groups were formed: 10 mothers with symptoms of chronic anxiety, 8 mothers with symptoms of chronic depression, and a control group of 22 mothers without mental health problems. The mothers responded to a socioeconomic questionnaire, and then a 7-min episode of the dyad interaction was recorded and assessed using categories indicated in a dyadic interaction assessment protocol. This consisted of six categories that evaluate the behavior of the caregiver and four categories that evaluate the child’s behavior. A significantly higher percentage of mothers with chronic depressive symptoms had not completed high school and did not live with a partner. When comparing the interaction behaviors of the three groups, mothers with symptoms of chronic depression were significantly less sensitive, were more disengaged, and showed less positive affect than those in the control group. They also engaged in significantly fewer stimulations and displayed more negative affect compared with both the control group and mothers with chronic anxiety symptoms. Anxious mothers presented greater intrusiveness compared with mothers in the control group. Regarding the children, those with mothers showing symptoms of chronic depression interacted significantly less than those with mothers showing symptoms of chronic anxiety and the control group. The results indicate that mother-infant interaction is most severely compromised among mother-infant dyads comprised of mothers with chronic depressive symptoms, compared with dyads of mothers with chronic anxiety symptoms and dyads of control group mothers without mental health problems.

中文翻译：

---

母子互动：慢性母亲焦虑症和抑郁症的影响

当母亲患有慢性焦虑和抑郁时，有关母子互动质量的文献很少。这项研究旨在比较表现出慢性焦虑或抑郁症状的14个月大的孩子和他们的母亲与没有表现出精神问题的14个月大的孩子和他们的母亲之间的互动特征。该样本由前瞻性队列研究中选出的40个母婴二元组组成。使用状态-特质焦虑量表和贝克抑郁量表在三个时间点对他们进行了评估：怀孕期间以及婴儿生命的6个月和14个月。分为三组：10名有慢性焦虑症状的母亲，8名有慢性抑郁症状的母亲和对照组22名无精神健康问题的母亲。母亲回答了一份社会经济调查表，然后使用二元互动评估协议中指示的类别记录并评估了二元互动的发作情况。这包括评估照顾者行为的六个类别和评估孩子行为的四个类别。患有慢性抑郁症状的母亲中，未完成高中学业且未与伴侣生活的比例更高。比较三组的互动行为时，患有慢性抑郁症症状的母亲比对照组的母亲明显不那么敏感，他们更加独立，并且表现出更少的积极影响。与对照组和有慢性焦虑症状的母亲相比，他们的刺激也明显减少，并表现出更多的负面影响。与对照组的母亲相比，焦虑的母亲表现出更大的侵入性。对于儿童，有母亲表现出慢性抑郁症状的孩子与那些有母亲表现出慢性焦虑症状的孩子和对照组之间的相互作用明显较少。结果表明，与具有慢性焦虑症状的母亲和未患精神健康问题的对照组母亲的双胞胎相比，在具有慢性抑郁症状的母亲组成的双胞胎双胞胎中母婴之间的相互作用受到最严重的损害。对于儿童，有母亲表现出慢性抑郁症状的孩子与那些有母亲表现出慢性焦虑症状的孩子和对照组的相互作用显着减少。结果表明，与具有慢性焦虑症状的母亲和未患精神健康问题的对照组母亲的双胞胎相比，在具有慢性抑郁症状的母亲组成的双胞胎双胞胎中母婴之间的相互作用受到最严重的损害。对于儿童，有母亲表现出慢性抑郁症状的孩子与那些有母亲表现出慢性焦虑症状的孩子和对照组之间的相互作用明显较少。结果表明，与具有慢性焦虑症状的母亲和未患精神健康问题的对照组母亲的双胞胎相比，在具有慢性抑郁症状的母亲组成的双胞胎双胞胎中母婴之间的相互作用受到最严重的损害。