Maternal Depression and the Timing of Mother-Child Dialogue

• In Event: Poster Session 14
  In Poster Session: PS 14 Topic - Language, Communication

Abstract

Early social interaction lays the foundation for developing language skills. Maternal depression may affect social interaction by disrupting the temporal structure of turn-taking (Breznitz & Sherman, 1987; Brookman et al., 2020). In this study, we examine the temporal properties of dialogue extracted from video recordings of semi-structured play between mothers and preschool children enrolled in the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Program. The temporal properties were analyzed as a function of child’s age and maternal depression. The primary goal of the study is understanding how depression impacts bidirectional processes in mother-child interaction, and the quality of children’s early language experience.
Early back-and-forth communication between the mother and the child provides direct language input for the child and, when temporal characteristics are coordinated, may enhance the language environment (Ford et al., 2020; Golinkoff et al., 2019). Mastering conversational turn exchanges is a developmental competency and evidence that the child is learning from their environment (Ford et al., 2020; Hilbrink et al., 2015; Levinson, 2016). Research from our lab has found that conversational timing between mothers and their children becomes quicker as the child approaches school age (Smith & McMurray, 2018). Bidirectional coordination of turn-taking is an important measure of the mother-child relationship. It may reveal the impact of risk factors on the language environment and how that translates to developmental outcomes.
Prior research suggests that social interaction between mothers and their children is disrupted by depressive symptoms. Mothers with depression tend to take longer to respond to their children, and communication consists of fewer turn exchanges (Breznitz & Sherman, 1987; Brookman et al., 2020; Pan et al., 2005). However, modern research on the connection between maternal depression and turn-taking is limited. Research focusing on maternal depression, low SES, and timing of turn exchanges is even more sparse despite maternal depression affecting up to 50% of families with a low SES (Chung et al., 2004; Palmer et al., 2013).
Our analyses examined how higher levels of maternal depression (on the CES-D scale) are related to the latency and variability of responses for both the mother and the child. Sixty-three mother-child dyads (n = 63) were examined at three ages (14, 24, and 36 months) and coded in Praat for response latencies, number of utterances per speaker as well as maternal, child, and total talk time. Preliminary analyses found a child-age effect, meaning the children developed quicker response latencies over time. The results, with depression measured at 14 and 36 months (Figures 1 and 2), show that mothers with depression tended to respond slower and talk less especially at 36 months of age (t(29.6) = -2.08, p = .047). These findings indicate that children’s early language environments are affected by maternal depression. Slower response times and less frequent input from depressed mothers mean that their children are receiving less coordinated language input, which may impact their language and cognitive development.

Authors

• Nicholas A Smith, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Valerie F McDaniel, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Presenting Author

• Chloe Sowell, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author

• Katherine A. E. Boley, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Janelle Janssen, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jean M Ispa, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author