Maternal Depressive Symptoms and 6-Month-Old Infants’ Sensitivity to Facial Expressions
Tricia Striano
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Patricia A. Brennan
Department of Psychology, Emory University
Eric J. Vanman
Department of Psychology, Georgia State University

We examined 6-month-old infants’ abilities to discriminate smiling and frowning from neutral stimuli. In addition, we assessed the relationship between infants’ preferences for varying intensities of smiling and frowning facial expressions and their mothers’ history of depressive symptoms. Forty-six infants were presented pairs of facial expressions, and their preferential looking time was recorded. They also participated in a 3-min interaction with their mothers for which duration of both mother and infant gazing and smiling were coded. Analyses revealed that the infants reliably discriminated between varying intensities of smiling and frowning facial expressions and a paired neutral expression. In addition, infants’ preferences for smiling and frowning expressions were related to self-reports of maternal depressive symptoms experienced since the birth of the infant. Potential implications for social cognitive development are discussed.