Maternal Depressive Symptoms Predict Girls’ but Not Boys’ Emotion Regulation: A Prospective Moment-to-Moment Observation Study
The study looked at 108 mother-child dyads from three to four years old. Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms predicted faster transitions into sadness only for girls but not for boys. Girls of mothers with elevated depressive symptoms showed impairment in antecedent-focused emotion regulation of sadness.
