Perinatal depressive symptoms and child temperament at two years: The moderating role of child sleep duration.

BACKGROUND

Perinatal depression has been linked to higher negative affectivity (NA) in children, though the strength of this association is variable. Infant sleep, a known protective factor, may moderate this relationship though this has not been tested.

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether within-person changes in depressive symptoms across pregnancy and postpartum were linked to child NA, and whether infant sleep duration moderated these effects.

METHODS

This study analyzed secondary data from 3906 postpartum individuals recruited during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021). Online surveys were administered at enrollment (<35 weeks' gestation), 6-, 12-, and 24 months postpartum, capturing demographic information, depressive symptoms, child NA (24 months), delivery outcomes, and infant sleep duration (12 months). A generalized linear model (GLM) tested the effects of within-person changes in perinatal depressive symptoms and chronic depressive symptom levels on child NA. The moderating role of infant sleep duration was also assessed.

RESULTS

Reductions in depressive symptoms from pregnancy to postpartum were associated with lower child NA, but only at sufficient infant sleep duration (B = -0.01, p = .040, f2 = 0.002). Chronic perinatal depressive symptoms were associated with greater child NA (B = 0.03, p < .001, f2 = 0.06); this risk was attenuated at longer infant sleep duration.

CONCLUSION

Child NA was shaped by both chronic levels and within-person patterns of depressive symptoms. Infant sleep duration buffered risk of chronic depressive symptoms, and amplified the protective effects of patterns of symptom reduction, underscoring infant sleep duration as a key intervention target.