madalina.costin@ubbcluj.ro
Mădălina Ruxandra Costin¹*, Diana Tăut¹, Adriana Smaranda Băban¹, and Sebastian Pintea¹
1 Department of Psychology, Babeș-Bolyai University
Abstract
This meta-analysis synthesizes evidence on whether maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy and the postpartum period are associated with children’s socio-emotional development in the first two years of life and examines sources of variability across studies.
Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Scopus up to 01 December 2025. We included quantitative studies reporting maternal depression and child socio-emotional outcomes assessed at ≤24 months. Random-effects models were used, and we tested potential moderators to account for between-study heterogeneity.
Twenty-nine independent studies (N = 22,655 mother–child dyads) were included. Maternal depression showed a reliable overall small-to-moderate association with less favorable early socio-emotional development. Associations were observed for both prenatal and postnatal depression. Effects were generally stronger when outcomes were mother-reported rather than observational, stronger for socio-emotional problems than for competencies, and tended to increase when outcomes were assessed later within the first two years. Studies with older, more educated, and partnered samples typically reported smaller associations.
Maternal depressive symptoms are reliably linked to children’s socio-emotional development in the first two years. Differences across studies indicate that measurement approach, outcome type, timing, and family context shape effect sizes, underscoring the value of perinatal screening and early intervention.
Keywords: Maternal depression, perinatal depression, socio-emotional development, early childhood, meta-analysis
Please cite this article as:
Costin, M. R., Tăut, D., Băban, A. S., & Pintea, S. (2026). Maternal Depression and Children’s Socio-Emotional Development in the First Two Years of Life: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Evidence-Based Psychotherapies, 26(1), 39-68.
DOI: 10.24193/jebp.2026.1.3
Published online: 2026/03/01
Published print: 2026/03/01
