Mothers' verbal language to young hearing impaired children

This paper discusses the effect of a mother's language on the language development of her hearing impaired child.

Children's representation of family mealtime in the context of maternal eating disorders

Background Recent research provides evidence for specific disturbance in feeding and growth in children of mothers with eating disorders. Aim To investigate the impact of maternal eating disorders during the post-natal year on the internal world of children, as expressed in children's representations of self and their mother in pretend mealtime play at 5 years of age. Methods Children of mothers with eating disorders (n = 33) and a comparison group (n = 24) were videotaped enacting a family mealtime in pretend play. Specific classes of children's play representations were coded blind to group membership. Univariate analyses compared the groups on representations of mother and self. Logistic regression explored factors predicting pretend play representations. Results Positive representations of the mother expressed as feeding, eating or body shape themes were more frequent in the index group. There were no other significant group differences in representations. In a logistic regression analysis, current maternal eating psychopathology was the principal predictor of these positive maternal representations. Marital criticism was associated with negative representations of the mother. Conclusions These findings suggest that maternal eating disorders may influence the development of a child's internal world, such that they are more preoccupied with maternal eating concerns. However, more extensive research on larger samples is required to replicate these preliminary findings.

The development of children of postnatally depressed mothers: evidence from the Cambridge longitudinal study

Children with a parent who suffers from depression are at raised risk for the disorder themselves. Relatively little is known about the development of psychological vulnerability to depression through childhood, particularly during infancy and early childhood. This paper describes results from a longitudinal prospective study of the development of children, studied from birth to 16 years, of mothers who experienced postnatal depression; it highlights the roles of the developing mother-child relationship, and of physiological functioning and social relationships in the development of adolescent vulnerability.

Recalled relationships with parents and perceptions of professional support in mothers of infants treated for cleft lip

This study examined whether individual differences in perception of the quality of professional support available at a time of stress may be associated with security of attachment. We developed a new measure of parents' perceptions of emotional and practical support provided by a wide range of professionals involved in the treatment of infants with cleft lip. it showed good internal reliability and stability over 4 months. Mothers of 102 infants with cleft lip, with or without cleft palate, completed the measure at 2 and 6 months, together with the Parental Bonding Instrument and the General Health Questionnaire. Mean scores reflecting how much they could trust or talk frankly, or share their worst fears, with professionals, and the extent to which they saw them as a source of useful information or practical help, were lower among mothers with recollections of low maternal care in childhood, or high control. This was the case at 2 and 6 months, and there were some indications of an increasing contribution of low maternal care from 2 to 6 months. The associations were not explained by current depression. Further research is needed to clarify the role of attachment processes in parents' responses to serious medical conditions in their children, and into the implications for the way professionals in paediatric services provide support.

Affective disorder in the parents of a clinic sample of children with anxiety disorders

Background: Family history studies in adults reveal strong familiality for the anxiety disorders with some specificity. The aim of the current study was to establish whether there was an elevated rate of anxiety disorders in the parents of children with anxiety disorders, and whether there was intergenerational specificity in the form of disorder. Methods: The mental state of a clinic sample of 85 children with anxiety disorder and their parents was systematically assessed, together with a comparison sample of 45 children with no current disorder and their parents. Results: Compared to the rate of anxiety disorder amongst parents of comparison children, the rate of current anxiety disorder in mothers of anxious children was significantly raised, as was the lifetime rate of anxiety disorder for both mothers and fathers. The mothers of children with generalised anxiety disorder, social phobia, specific phobia and separation anxiety disorder all had raised lifetime rates of the corresponding disorder, but also raised rates of others disorders. Limitations: Only 60% of the fathers of the anxious children were assessed. Conclusions: Strong familiality of anxiety disorders was confirmed, especially between child and maternal anxiety disorder. All child anxiety disorders were associated with several forms of anxiety disorder in the mother. Some specificity in the form of anxiety disorder in the child and the mother was apparent for social phobia and separation anxiety disorder. The findings have implications for the management of child anxiety. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.