Introduction
The World Health Organization estimates depression as havingthehighestburdenofdiseaseinwomen(WHO2008).The
negative implications that come with depression can be devastating to women at any time in their lives. However, when this disease presents in women who are pregnant or in postpartum, the effects may be worse, as these women are faced with a symbolic life milestone. Moreover, caring for a new infant requires energy, patience, and emotional presence, which are less available in depressed mothers (Beck 2006; Richter2004).Theresultingimbalanceofcaregivingqualities may negatively affect both infants and mothers. Effects may include difficult infant temperament (and/or more negative perceptions of temperament) characterized by an inability to be soothed. In turn, maternal depression and subsequent difficult infant temperament are both likely to affect the development and progression of a woman’s maternal role, which may further weaken maternal caregiving efforts. A mechanistic model predicting the development of maternal role from depression through infant temperament has yet to be tested. Evidence supporting such a model would not only contribute to conceptual understanding of these processes but also more precisely delineate targets for early intervention with these mothers. The primary aim of our study was to examine the effects of both maternal depression (prenatal and postpartum) andmaternalperceptionsofinfanttemperamentonamother’s perception of her maternal role in a mediation model.