Maternal depression across the first years of life impacts children’s neural basis of empathy
Tuesday, January 3, 2017 - 11:01
in Health & Medicine
Exposure to early and chronic maternal depression markedly increases a child’s susceptibility to psychopathology and social-emotional problems, including social withdrawal, poor emotion regulation, and reduced empathy to others. Since 15-18% of women in industrial societies and up to 30% in developing countries suffer from maternal depression, it is of clinical and public health concern to understand the effects of maternal depression on children’s development.