Infant Depression

For me, the word "infant" has always had a strange and compelling fascination. This book, in essence, represents the first step of what I hope will be a long and fruitful journey into the mysteries of the infant psyche, with special emphasis on the phenomenon of early-life depressive symptomatology. From the outset of my medical training, I was particularly attracted to the field of psychiatry. As a resident exposed to adult patients in a psychiatric ward, I can vividly recall, even these many years later, the deep sense of poignancy and distress while in the presence of minds gone awry. It is my belief that psy­ chiatry, more than any other branch of medicine, presents the physician with the ultimate paradox-the elusive diagnosis. By this I mean that while the symp­ tomatology of psychiatry may be classified and analyzed, while diagnoses, prog­ noses, and treatment schedules can be devised, within psychiatry the unique configuration of each individual patient emerges with a clarity and distinction unparalleled in any other medical field. Before any psychiatric diagnosis can be formulated, the therapist must first delve deeply into the ultimate singularity of the patient. As a consequence, psychiatry is, in the final analysis, concerned with the dignity of each patient, and the psychiatrist is continually challenged to explore the most formidable and elaborate aspect of each person-the human mind. That said, I need to express the reasons for my dedication to child psychiatry.

1 Developmental Psychopathology. - The Perspective of Developmental Psychopathology. - A Developmental Perspective on Depression. - Predictive Validity. - Future Directions: Need for Improved Research and Classification Methods. - Organization of Book. - 2 Correlates of Temperament to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Individual Differences and Importance of Stability Over Time. - Relationship Between Depressive Disorders and Temperament. - Methodological Issues in the Study of Temperament. - Conclusion. - 3 Correlates of Attachment to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Description of Attachment Behavior. - Definition and Measurement of Attachment Behavior. - Stability and Correlations of Behavioral Patterns. - Factors Affecting the Development and Display of Attachment Behaviors. - The Function of Avoidant Behavior. - Precursors of Avoidance Behaviors. - Other Studies Involving Infants at Risk for Affective Disorders. - Relevance of Avoidant Behavior. - Conclusions. - 4 Correlates of Object Permanence and Constancy to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Object Permanence. - Development and Significance of Object Permanence. - Significance of Object Constancy. - Factors Affecting Object Constancy. - Development of Object Constancy. - Conclusion. - 5 Correlates of the Self to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Defining Self-Concept. - The Development of Self-Concept During Infancy. - Self-Concept Among Preschoolers and Older Children. - Development of Self-Concept During School Years. - Development of Self-Regulation. - Relation of Self to Attachment. - Relationship of Self-Schemas to Depressive Pathology. - Conclusions. - 6 Correlates of Empathy to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Definitions of Empathy. - Development of Empathic Distress. - Empathic Transformation into Guilt and Its Relationship to Prosocial Action. - Conclusion. - 7 The Face-to-Face Interaction Paradigm. - Case Report. - Defining the Paradigm. - Model for Studying Depressive Dyadic Interaction. - Developmental Lines That Delineate Infant Depression. - Infant s Perspective. - Affective Response. - Cardiac Response. - Caregiver s Perspective. - Mutual Dyadic Interactive Mechanism: General Dyadic Behavior. - Discrepancy Awareness Hypothesis. - Gazing Patterns Within Dyadic Model. - Comparison Between Healthy and At-Risk Infants. - Infant Attachment and Response to Strangers. - Depressive Dyadic Interaction. - Conclusion. - 8 Learned Helplessness Paradigm. - Case Report. - Overview of the Learned Helplessness Paradigm. - Temperament Capabilities as Factors Influencing Learned Helplessness. - The Discrepancy Awareness Hypothesis. - The Effectance Motivation System. - Contingency Awareness. - Attachment Behaviors as Factors Influencing Learned Helplessness. - Development of Self. - Contingency and Self-Concept: Attributional Style. - Conclusion. - 9 Correlates of Neuroendocrinology to Depressive Phenomena. - Case Report. - Interactions Between Internal States and External Events. - Assessment of Current Status of Biogenic Amine Theories. - Developmental Psychoendocrinology: Therapeutic Implications for Definition and Treatment of Depression. - Conclusion. - 10 Clinical Paradigm. - Models of Childhood Depression. - Case Report. - Maternal Deprivation. - Clinical Studies of Maternal Separation. - Conclusion. - References.