Purpose
Compare pragmatic skills of boys and girls and the influence of Postpartum Depression (PPD) on this process.
Methods
The subjects of this research project are 31 boys and 49 girls from 3 years to 3 years and 5 months. Regarding their mothers, 30 displayed PPD indicators as per the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. An assessment of the pragmatic aspect of child language development was carried out, at 3 years old, during open play with mother, based on data gathered since birth.
Results
It was observed that girls obtained better results than boys, although those girls whose mothers had PPD interacted more. Boys, in contrast, had better results when their mothers did not have PPD.
Conclusion
This led to the detection of the influence of gender on those socio-affective, upbringing-related variables (including PPD), which are relevant to child development.
Language; Postpartum depression; Mother-child relations; Gender and health; Language tests
