Review of Literature: The Effects of Early Intervention of the Mother-Infant Relationship - Essay Example

Review of Literature Summaries Review of Literature Summaries According to Thompson & Fox , the analysis of the effects of the postpartum depression has been described in three domains namely the neurological, the social economical as well as the cognitive domain. In a comprehensive approach to the evaluation and treatment of postpartum depression, the effects of the depression have been considered significantly negative to an individual (Thompson, & Fox, 2010). As a result, scrutiny is needed in the establishment of improved detection as well as intervention efficacy. Thompson & Fox (2010) assert that by so doing, the consequences will be reduced prevalence of postpartum depression and the elimination of the adverse effects of the depression. According to Thompson & Fox (2010), the challenges faced while screening for postpartum depression from mothers from diverse cultural background can be overcome by the employment of an appropriate screening tool which can be identified by an expert nurse. Scott (1992) observes that postpartum depression has substantially profound impacts on the social morbidity of the child. Besides social morbidity, postpartum depression affects the individual’s psychological wellbeing (Scott, 1992). Consequently when an individual has psychological as well as social challenges, through the ripple effect the larger society is affected. This indicates how profound the problem failure of early detection and intervention of postpartum detection has to the general population. A research conducted examining the resulting mother-child bonding at one year provides important findings related to this research. The mother-child bonding was examined from two factors which affects it in the first few weeks, postnatal depression and bonding (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). According to OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor (2013), utilizing the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale (EPDS) and the Mother Infant Bonding Questionnaire (MIBQ), the researchers were able to successfully detect postpartum depression and provide the intervention needed. From the findings of the research, there was the indication of postpartum depression contributing profoundly to the bonding problems (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). Consequently, the bonding problem affected the child’s behaviors negatively to a significant extent (OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor, 2013). Multiple screening tools used in the detection of postpartum depression improve the efficacy of its detection. According to OHiggins, Roberts, Glover, & Taylor (2013), an improved efficacy in detection enhances timely intervention of the mental disorder so that the negative consequences which affect the child as well as the mother are countered effectively. According to Field (2010), in cases where both parents suffer from depression, a child faces a bigger risk of developing problematic behaviours. In a research which involved 5089 participants, the findings indicated a positive association between postpartum depression and problems in a child’s behaviour (Field, 2010). Activities which are supposed to enhance bonding were observed to be lacking between the mother-child interactions where mothers had postpartum depression (Field, 2010). However, the bonding between depressed fathers and their children seemed not to have been affected as much as that between the depressed mother and the child (Field, 2010). This article demonstrates the essence of early diagnosis and intervention of PPD in the prevention of its adverse effects. Emanuel (2006) examines the effects of post-natal depression on a child using the psychoanalytic approach. PPD is observed to alter the success of passing through each stage of as explained in the psychoanalytic theory (Emanuel, 2006). A research conducted to demonstrate the effects of early intervention of the mother-infant relationship showed that there was a positive association between the two (Ravn, Smith, Smeby, Kynoe, Sandvik, Bunch & Lindemann, 2012). The data was collected through a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) with the employment of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (MITP) tool. The research also presents the magnitude of the women usually affected by PPD. In the article Symptoms of Depression Postpartum and 12 Years Later- Associations to Child Mental Health at 12 Years of Age reports on a longitudinal research. The research involved the examination of the association of maternal depression, both postpartum depression and later depression, and child behaviour problems (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). The research conducted involved one thousand seven hundred and twenty three mothers from Sweden in two points in time. This was when the children of the participating mothers were three months and later when they were twelve years (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). The analysis done from the findings of this research provide a range of relevant information to the proposed research. Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin (2013) note that in the first examination, when their children were three months old, the results indicated that 10-12% of the mother suffered from postpartum depression. A slightly higher percent, 18%, of the mothers suffered from maternal depression when they were examined after 12 years after the first examination (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). However, the risk of the recurrence of the depression was significantly low at 4% (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). The likelihood of reporting postpartum symptoms was three times higher with women who had previously developed postpartum depression compared to those others who had not (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). The effect of the postpartum depression as well as the maternal depression to the child was observed to increase the risk of the development of behavioral problems by the child eight times compared to the child of the woman without postpartum depression (Agnafors, Sydsjö, Dekeyser, & Svedin, 2013). Generally, these findings show that postpartum depressed mothers affect their children’s behavioral wellness negatively. Consequently, these findings are profoundly relevant to the proposed research as they show that undetected and when not intervened, postpartum depression has negative effects to the child’s behaviours. Thus, early detection and intervention is crucial for its management to reduce its negative consequences. Reay, Matthey, Ellwood, & Scott (2011) report on the issue of the long term effects of postpartum depression and their effects on the mother-child bonding. Their report Research report: Long-term outcomes of participants in a perinatal depression early detection program, contributes to the gravity of problem in this research. Sharan, Kaplan, Weizer, Sulkes, & Merlob (2006) assert that 20% of mothers are depressed in the period between birth and when their children are two years. There is a significant essence of early detection and intervention of PPD (Sharan, Kaplan, Weizer, Sulkes, & Merlob, 2006). A comparative study involving two groups, a mother-child pairs group consisting of postpartum depressed mothers and the other mother-child pairs consisting of non-depressed mothers, was conducted to determine the effects of PPD. Fewer behavioral problems were exhibited by the children whose mothers had an intervention compared to those whose mothers did not (Kersten-Alvarez, Hosman, Riksen-Walraven, Van Doesum, & Hoefnagels, 2010). A research conducted comparing the impacts of postpartum depressed mothers’ behaviours to the children compared to mothers who did not suffer from postpartum depression provides relevant data to this research (Kenny, Conroy, Pariante, Seneviratne & Pawlby, n.d). According to Kenny, Conroy, Pariante, Seneviratne & Pawlby, the findings of this research show that PPD has adverse effects on the behavior of the child. On the contrary, healthy mothers develop a healthy relationship with their children who affect their behaviours positively (Kenny, Conroy, Pariante, Seneviratne & Pawlby, n.d). It’s relevance to this research, the research enriches to the data that supports the need for early detection as well as intervention of PPD in the pursuit to eliminate its prevalence and adverse effects to the society. The research presented in an article Universal screening and early intervention for maternal mental health and attachment difficulties, indicates that most of the mother-child bonding problems are caused by postpartum depression. According to Milford & Oates (2009) research indicates that 10 to15% of mothers suffer from postpartum depression. Affecting 10-15% of mothers means that the impacts of postpartum depression are profound in a large extent of the society (Milford, & Oates, 2009). Early intervention of postpartum depression is recommended so that the mother-child bonding problems associated with it can be eliminated. McQueen, Montgomery, Lappan-Gracon, Evans, & Hunter (2008) observe that diversity of cultures presents profound challenges in the detection of postpartum depression. These difficulties have been comprehensively elaborated in the article Evidence-based recommendations for depressive symptoms in postpartum women. Where education deficit is prevalent, the choice of the appropriate screening tool to detect postpartum depression may be difficult. As a result, using the wrong screening tool may give the wrong results causing the probability of leaving a postpartum depression undetected and therefore untreated (McQueen, Montgomery, Lappan-Gracon, Evans, & Hunter, 2008). The consequences of this are far reaching as they affect the child and the mother directly as well as the society indirectly. Thus, there is the need to equip nurses with sound education base and profound experiences in their practice so that there is improved efficacy in the detection and intervention of postpartum depression. In the article Early detection and treatment of postnatal depression in primary care, the positive association between early detection and intervention of postpartum depression is confirmed through its examination in a research. Davies, Howells, & Jenkins (2003), present the findings and the analysis of a longitudinal research which confirms that early detection and intervention of postpartum depression sees a healthy relationships between the mother and her child. The findings are relevant to this research through the indication of the possibility of development of postpartum depression at any time particularly by first time mothers. This research is carried out in a longitudinal research design in a period of thirty six months. The three years of research committed the researchers as well as a total of eighty six women who were the participants of the research (Davies, Howells, & Jenkins, 2003). The commitment to the participants though had been scheduled such that it would be not an added stressor by making it coincide with their routine clinic visits. Davies, Howells, & Jenkins (2003), data collection from the participants was done using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression scale (EPDS). The use of this screening tool is relevant to this research to support the essence of the employment of the appropriate screening tool in order to achieve the best results. According to Moehler, Brunner, Wiebel, Reck & Resch (2006) postpartum depression causes long term effects to the child and the mother when it goes without intervention. Moehler, Brunner, Wiebel, Reck & Resch (2006) identify the failure for detection of postpartum depression as the onset of adverse consequences associated with postpartum depression. It is consequently, essential to ensure efficacy in the detection of postpartum detection on order to ensure that every single prevalent case of PPD receives intervention. References Agnafors, S., Sydsjö, G., Dekeyser, L., & Svedin, C. (2013). Symptoms of Depression Postpartum and 12 years Later-Associations to Child Mental Health at 12 years of Age. Maternal & Child Health Journal, 17(3), 405-414. doi:10.1007/s10995-012-0985-z. Davies, B. R., Howells, S., & Jenkins, M. (2003). Issues and Innovations in Nursing Practice. Early detection and treatment of postnatal depression in primary care. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 44(3), 248-255. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2648.2003.02799.x. Emanuel, L. (2006). Disruptive and distressed toddlers: The impact of undetected maternal depression on infants and young children1An earlier version of this paper titled ‘The effects of post-natal depression on a child’ appeared in Psychoanalytic.. Infant Observation, 9(3), 249-259. doi:10.1080/13698030601070722. Field, T. (2010). Postpartum depression effects on early interactions, parenting, and safety practices: A review. Infant Behavior & Development, 33(1), 1-6. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2009.10.005. Kenny, M., Conroy, S., Pariante, C., Seneviratne, G., & Pawlby, S. (n.d). Mother-infant interaction in mother and baby unit patients: Before and after treatment. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 47(9), 1192-1198 Kersten-Alvarez, L. E., Hosman, C. H., Riksen-Walraven, J., Van Doesum, K. M., & Hoefnagels, C. (2010). Long-term effects of a home-visiting intervention for depressed mothers and their infants. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 51(10), 1160-1170. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02268.x. McQueen, K., Montgomery, P., Lappan-Gracon, S., Evans, M., & Hunter, J. (2008). Evidence-based recommendations for depressive symptoms in postpartum women. JOGNN: Journal Of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 37(2), 127-136. doi:10.1111/j.1552-6909.2008.00215.x. Milford, R., & Oates, J. (2009). Universal screening and early intervention for maternal mental health and attachment difficulties. Community Practitioner, 82(8), 30-33. Moehler, E., Brunner, R. R., Wiebel, A. A., Reck, C. C., & Resch, F. F. (2006). Maternal depressive symptoms in the postnatal period are associated with long-term impairment of mother–child bonding. Archives Of Womens Mental Health, 9(5), 273-278. doi:10.1007/s00737-006-0149-5. OHiggins, M., Roberts, I., Glover, V., & Taylor, A. (2013). Mother-child bonding at 1 year; associations with symptoms of postnatal depression and bonding in the first few weeks. Archives of Womens Mental Health, 16(5), 381-389. doi:10.1007/s00737-013-0354-y. Ravn, I., Smith, L., Smeby, N., Kynoe, N., Sandvik, L., Bunch, E., & Lindemann, R. (2012). Effects of early mother–infant intervention on outcomes in mothers and moderately and late preterm infants at age 1 year: A randomized controlled trial. Infant Behavior & Development, 35(1), 36-47. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2011.09.006. Reay, R., Matthey, S., Ellwood, D., & Scott, M. (2011). Research report: Long-term outcomes of participants in a perinatal depression early detection program. Journal of Affective Disorders, 12994-103. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2010.07.035. Scott, D. (1992). Early identification of maternal depression as a strategy in the prevention of child abuse. Child Abuse & Neglect, 16345-358. doi:10.1016/0145-2134(92)90044-R. Sharan, H., Kaplan, B., Weizer, N., Sulkes, J., & Merlob, P. (2006). Early screening of postpartum depression using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. International Journal of Risk & Safety In Medicine, 18(4), 213-218. Thompson, K., & Fox, J. E. (2010). Post-partum depression: a comprehensive approach to evaluation and treatment. Mental Health in Family Medicine, 7(4), 249-257. Read More