A systematic review of the association between perinatal depression and cognitive development in infancy in low and middle-income countries

Matthew Bluett-Duncan, M Thomas Kishore, Divya M Patil, Veena A Satyanarayana and Helen Sharp

PLOS ONE, 2021, vol. 16, issue 6, 1-25

Abstract: The association between perinatal depression and infant cognitive development has been well documented in research based in high-income contexts, but the literature regarding the same relationship in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) is less developed. The aim of this study is to systematically review what is known in this area in order to inform priorities for early intervention and future research in LMICs. The review protocol was pre-registered on Prospero (CRD42018108589) and relevant electronic databases were searched using a consistent set of keywords and 1473 articles were screened against the eligibility criteria. Sixteen articles were included in the review, seven focusing on the antenatal period, eight on the postnatal period, and one which included both. Five out of eight studies found a significant association between antenatal depression (d = .21-.93) and infant cognitive development, while four out of nine studies found a significant association with postnatal depression (d = .17-.47). Although the evidence suggests that LMICs should prioritise antenatal mental health care, many of the studies did not adequately isolate the effects of depression in each period. Furthermore, very few studies explored more complex interactions that may exist between perinatal depression and other relevant factors. More high-quality studies are needed in LMIC settings, driven by current theory, that test main effects and examine moderating or mediating pathways to cognitive development.

Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0253790 (text/html)
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id= ... 53790&type=printable (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:plo:pone00:0253790

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253790

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in PLOS ONE from Public Library of Science
Bibliographic data for series maintained by plosone ().