Study 1 revealed that early maternal depressive symptoms affected child’s later mastery
motivation and related domains including self-regulation and general cognitive skills. However,
direct negative effect of early maternal depressive symptoms on children’s later mastery
motivation was not significant when considering maternal parenting at 24 months. In particular,
maternal sensitivity mediated the effects of early maternal depressive symptoms on child’s later
mastery motivation. The results of chapter 2 also showed that boys were more vulnerable to the
effects of maternal depression. Boys whose mothers had more early depressive symptoms
displayed poor general cognitive skills at 36 months. However, boys’ mastery motivation and
self-regulation were not predicted by early maternal depressive symptoms directly but that was
mediated by maternal sensitivity.