Feelings of depression and parenting competence of mothers of handicapped and nonhandicapped infants: a longitudinal study.

Relations of maternal depression and feelings of parenting competence with measures of child characteristics and mother's social support system were examined across time. Full assessments were made of mothers of handicapped infants at infant ages 11, 15, 19, and 27 months and mothers of nonhandicapped infants at infant ages 6, 11, 15, 19, and 27 months. Although the two groups of infants differed significantly in level of functioning and difficulty of caregiving, the two groups of mothers did not differ on the measures of maternal depression and feelings of parenting competence. In the handicapped group, caregiving difficulty predicted maternal depression, and the quality of family relations predicted the mothers' feelings of parenting competence. In the nonhandicapped group, both feelings of depression and of parenting competence were predicted by child irritability and the quality of family relations.