{"id":235762,"date":"2017-04-13T16:02:12","date_gmt":"2017-04-13T20:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/?p=235762"},"modified":"2017-04-17T10:14:20","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T14:14:20","slug":"treated-mothers-pass-along-benefits-of-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/newscenter\/treated-mothers-pass-along-benefits-of-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Treated mothers pass along benefits of therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some mornings she could barely make it out of bed. Feeling lonely and depressed, Laianna Baker found it hard to perform everyday tasks, including taking care of her newborn.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow do I start my day? Nobody was there for me. Lots of unresolved issues,\u201d Baker remembers.<\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the 21-year-old who was suffering. \u201cWhen I\u2019m sad, not in my element, he feels it,\u201d says the mother of Corey, now 18 months. \u201cHe\u2019s more agitated, he keeps falling down to the ground, he whines and cries more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after her son\u2019s birth, Baker started therapy at the Mt. Hope Family Center in Rochester. She\u2019s been receiving interpersonal psychotherapy there, learning how to cope, and to look for something that will lift her up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I feel low I play with my kid, watch movies\u2014just do things that clear the stress that I have off my mind,\u201d Baker says. Sometimes, she wrestles with Corey on the ground. He loves it. She feels better.<\/p>\n

Scientific research backs her up.<\/p>\n

\"Alleviating<\/p>\n

A study published in Development and Psychopathology<\/em><\/a>, conducted jointly by researchers at the URochester Mt. Hope Family Center and the University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development, concluded that mothers who receive interpersonal psychotherapy after showing signs of major depression fare significantly better than the control group, which was merely given community referrals. But the mothers weren\u2019t the only ones to benefit\u2014their children did, too. Not only did the moms become better at parenting\u2014their children improved across a host of important developmental measures.<\/p>\n

Lessening the mothers\u2019 depression, researchers discovered, meant improved attachment security for their toddlers. Overall, the researchers found that post-treatment the moms in the study became better at reading and understanding their toddler\u2019s temperament, essentially making them better parents, while the toddlers became less fussy and angry, making them easier to parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cascading effect for the family,\u201d says lead researcher Elizabeth Handley, research associate and assistant professor at the Mt. Hope Family Center.<\/p>\n

Interpersonal psychotherapy is a time-limited\u00a0therapy\u00a0that focuses on\u00a0resolving interpersonal issues and the symptomatic recovery of the patient. The therapy is highly structured and lasts just 12 to 16 weeks.<\/p>\n

Using a randomized controlled trial of 125 mothers, each paired with her own child, the study looked at reduced maternal depression after psychotherapy and its effect on the children. Study subjects were low-income moms with an average age of 25. The children\u2019s mean age was 13 months at the start of the study. More than half of the mothers, 54.4 percent, were African American.<\/p>\n

The current research builds on a 2013 Rochester study of moms representing similar demographics, which concluded that screening for depression and providing short-term, relationship-focused therapy can relieve their depression, even in the face of poverty and personal histories of abuse or violence.<\/p>\n

According to Handley, part of the improvement is a result of shifting the mother\u2019s vantage point. Moms who view their kids as difficult tend to engage in harsher forms of parenting, she says, which down the road can lead to more problematic behavior in the children.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can change the moms\u2019 lens in the way that they see their children, then you can set the kids off on a more positive trajectory,\u201d says Handley. \u201cRose-colored lenses are preferable to gray ones, because a positive perception of their children is actually predictive of better outcomes later in life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior research shows that children of depressed mothers are at greater risk for a variety of developmental problems, and establishing a secure attachment relationship with a parent is a critical developmental milestone during the early years of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn insecure attachment relationship is associated with a whole host of negative outcomes,\u201d Handley says. One of the most critical aspects of development within a child\u2019s first year, a healthy attachment makes it possible for children to cope with stressful situations. \u201cThey know mom as a secure base from where to explore the world. Without that secure attachment toddlers are more likely to be aggressive, to have conduct problems, and a whole array of negative mental health outcomes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a significant health concern in the U.S., with 13 to 16 percent of the general populace experiencing an episode during their lifetime. Generally, women are more likely to suffer from depression, with the highest rates occurring among women of childbearing age and during the child-raising years. For economically-disadvantaged mothers the likelihood of depression jumps to one in four moms.<\/p>\n

Besides finding a way to head off likely problems for the children in later life, there is also a personal component, says Handley, herself a mother of two daughters, ages one and five.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing the depression alleviated and seeing moms be more sensitive with their children, more responsive, less impatient and harsh\u2014and seeing the kids respond more positively to their moms, well, that\u2019s the warm and fuzzy of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Baker, it means an achievement that she\u2019s clearly proud of: \u201cGood mother, good person. It\u2019s good Laianna all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI take care of my child, I now have a better job, an apartment, a car,\u201d she says. \u201cI take care of my responsibilities. He changed me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiping away tears, Baker adds quietly, \u201cI don\u2019t think I was raised right. But I want to do right with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Study shows children also benefit when mothers receive therapy for depression. 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