Inconsolable Infant Crying and Maternal Postpartum Depressive Symptoms.

Pediatrics. 2013 May 6;
Radesky JS, Zuckerman B, Silverstein M, Rivara FP, Barr M, Taylor JA, Lengua LJ, Barr RG

OBJECTIVE:To quantify the extent to which maternal report of inconsolable infant crying, rather than colic (defined by Wessel’s criteria of daily duration of fussing and crying >3 hours), is associated with maternal postpartum depressive symptoms.METHODS:Participants were 587 mothers who were recruited shortly before or after delivery and followed longitudinally. At 5 to 6 weeks postpartum, mothers recorded the duration and mode (fussing, crying, or inconsolable crying) of their infant’s distress by using the Baby’s Day Diary. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) was administered at enrollment and at 8 weeks postpartum. Using regression models that included baseline EPDS scores and multiple confounders, we examined associations of colic and inconsolable crying with later maternal EPDS scores at 8 weeks postpartum.RESULTS:Sixty mothers (10%) met the EPDS threshold for “possible depression” (score ?9) at 8 weeks postpartum. For mothers reporting >20 minutes of inconsolable crying per day, the adjusted odds ratio… Continue reading →