Facts have proven that mothers' postpartum depression will adversely affect the child's success in learning to speak. This may be because women in a bad mood speak monotonously and do not focus on their children. This will prevent the baby from effectively distinguishing between sound and syllables.
About 70% of women experience varying degrees of postpartum depression. Studies have shown that worsening mothers’ emotions can affect children’s development. Now, scientists from the MaxPhotos Institute for Cognitive and Neuroscience (Germany) have discovered how postpartum depression affects early language development in infants. Their results of were published in in the journal JAMA Network Open.
Scientists analyzed the infant's ability to learn to distinguish pronunciation based on mother's emotions. This ability is considered an important prerequisite for further language learning. If a child can distinguish sounds, he will be able to distinguish syllables from words.
The study involved 46 mothers whose emotions were evaluated using a standardized questionnaire. To find out children's ability to distinguish voice, scientists used the electroencephalography (EEG) method. Scientists evaluated what is called parallax response, which makes it possible to determine from EEG signals whether the brain perceives sounds as the same or differentiates them. The authors of the work then documented this reaction of 2-month-old babies, when they were presented with various syllables such as “ba,” “ga,” and “boo,” among others.
Study results show that if the mother feels frustrated after two months of birth, her child's ability to process speech at six months of age will decrease. They also showed delay in the development of mismatch responses, which are considered a sign of increased risk of language disorders in later years.
Scientists also believe that depressed mothers are unlikely to talk to their children. Their speech may be more monotonous and less baby-oriented. That is, women in this state use less voice changes and are less clear in distinguishing certain parts of the word. This may limit their children’s perception of sound.
The results of this work by the authors of this work show how important it is for parents to use a baby-oriented language, among other things. Researchers believe that in order to ensure the correct verbal development of children, it is necessary to provide appropriate support for mothers with postpartum depression and promote fathers’ participation in the parenting process.
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