Mothers and fathers are at elevated risk for developing depression during the first postnatal year, especially among families from marginalized communities. Although a number of studies demonstrate that exposure to maternal depressive symptoms can undermine infants’ regulatory development, less is known about the extent to which paternal depressive symptoms may also contribute. The current study investigated whether maternal and paternal depressive symptoms were uniquely associated with infants’ physiological regulation, and whether associations varied depending on infant sex. Participants included 90 low-income Mexican American families. Fathers and mothers self-reported their depressive symptoms when infants were 15 weeks old, and infants’ resting parasympathetic activity (i.e., respiratory sinus arrhythmia [RSA]) was assessed at 6 and 24 weeks. Results indicated that, after controlling for infant 6-week RSA and depressive symptoms in the other parent, paternal depressive symptoms were associated with lower 24-week RSA for both girls and boys, but maternal depressive symptoms were only associated with lower 24-week RSA for boys. Findings highlight a potential mechanism through which the consequences of parent depressive symptoms may reverberate across generations, and suggest that considerations of both infants’ and parents’ sex may lend insight into how best to intervene.

中文翻译：

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母亲和父亲产后抑郁症状对低收入墨西哥裔美国家庭婴儿副交感神经调节的影响

母亲和父亲在产后第一年患抑郁症的风险较高，尤其是在边缘化社区的家庭中。尽管许多研究表明暴露于母亲的抑郁症状会破坏婴儿的调节发育，但对父亲抑郁症状的影响程度知之甚少。目前的研究调查了母亲和父亲的抑郁症状是否与婴儿的生理调节唯一相关，以及这种关联是否因婴儿性别而异。参与者包括 90 个低收入的墨西哥裔美国家庭。父亲和母亲在婴儿 15 周大时自我报告他们的抑郁症状，并在 6 周和 24 周时评估婴儿的静息副交感神经活动（即呼吸性窦性心律失常 [RSA]）。结果表明，在控制婴儿 6 周 RSA 和另一方父母的抑郁症状后，父亲的抑郁症状与女孩和男孩的较低 24 周 RSA 相关，但母亲的抑郁症状仅与较低的 24 周 RSA 相关对于男孩。研究结果强调了一种潜在的机制，通过这种机制，父母抑郁症状的后果可能会在几代人之间产生反响，并表明考虑婴儿和父母的性别可能有助于深入了解如何最好地进行干预。