conclusion, we found in this study that mothers of
young children were generally more sensitive to happy than
to sad infant faces. However, mothers with postnatal
depression were less likely to correctly identify happy faces
than were control participants. Interestingly, mothers with
anxiety identified happy faces at a lower intensity than controls,
which is consistent with the literature demonstrating that
individuals with anxiety are intolerant of uncertainty and seek
reassurance due to their worries. To our knowledge, this is the
first study to utilise infant morphed faces to illuminate early
parental responsiveness and, in particular, to examine the
effects of postnatal depression on the processing of infant
facial expressions. These results have the potential to address
important questions about how a negative cognitive bias may
affect depressed mothers' perceptions of their infants'
emotions. This is the first study of its kind, and further
research using larger samples is required to explore these
issues more systematically. If the present findings are
replicated, research is needed to investigate the links
between mothers' perceptions of infant facial expressions
and both maternal responsiveness and later measures of child
development.