Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38896155›Full record

SynthesisArchives of women's mental health2025

Child developmental outcomes associated with postpartum depression and anxiety in low and middle-income countries: a systematic review.

Harikrupa Sridhar, M Thomas Kishore, Prabha S Chandra

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Archives of women's mental health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Environmental Stressors, Anemia, and Depressive Symptoms in Pregnancy: Unpacking the Combined Risks.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Article
  9. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Harikrupa SridharDepartment of clinical psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India. harikrupacp@gmail.com.ORCID 0009-0007-4319-7447
M Thomas KishoreDepartment of clinical psychology, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.ORCID 0000-0002-8000-169X
Prabha S ChandraDepartment of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru, India.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimsThis systematic review aims to summarize the findings of empirical studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) examining the relationship between postpartum depression and anxiety, and child developmental outcomes measured at 24 months of child's age.

methodsThe study was performed as per PRISMA guidelines for a systematic review. EBESCO, ProQuest, PubMed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, and BMJ databases were examined, along with a forward and backward examination of the citations published. The New Ottawa scales (NOS) was used to assess the quality of the studies. The findings of the studies were integrated using a narrative synthesis approach.

resultsThe systematic review revealed that there are 14 studies examining the impact of postpartum depression (n=14) and postpartum anxiety (n=2) across different domains of child development in LMICs. Studies varied regarding the severity and duration of maternal depression, the context and nature of evaluation, and motherinfant characteristics which are important to understand the association between postpartum depression and anxiety and infant development. Maternal depression is negatively associated with language development, socio-emotional and behavioural development while its association with motor and cognitive development is inconsistent. The impact of maternal anxiety on infant development was examined in two studies, and both have identified a negative association. However, the results of the current review need to be interpreted within the scope and limitations of the methodologies adopted by each study details of which are elaborated in the manuscript.

conclusionPostpartum depression and anxiety can have a wide range of effects on child development. Therefore, periodic infant developmental assessments should become part of routine psychiatric evaluation. There is a need for uniform guidelines for conducting studies and reporting data related to postpartum mental health and child development.

Indexed as

AnxietyChild DevelopmentDepression, PostpartumMothersChild, PreschoolDeveloping CountriesFemaleHumansInfantChild developmentLow- and middle- income countriesMaternal distressPostpartum anxietyPostpartum depression

Identifiers

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.