Maternal depression has been identified as an adverse condition for child development, and has been associated with behavioral problems, with different manifestations for boys and girls. The objective of the present study was to identify and analyze articles published in indexed journals that address the association between maternal depression and gender differences in relation to child behavior. The review was conducted on the electronic databases MEDLINE, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, and Index Psi, using the keywords maternal depression and gender and maternal depression and child sex, and was restricted to articles published in the last 5 years (2004 to 2009). Twenty one empirical articles were identified and systematically analyzed. There was a predominance of prospective longitudinal studies, employing non-clinical samples, without a confirmed diagnosis of maternal depression, which was analyzed in combination with others context variables. Data collection procedures were performed using a variety of measures and informants. Longitudinal and cross-sectional studies confirmed the negative impact of maternal depression on child variables, pointing to the presence of differences between genders, as follows: during school-age years, externalizing and conduct problems for boys and internalizing and depressive problems for girls; during preschool age, predominance of externalizing problems for boys; during adolescence, internalizing problems for girls. These results suggest the need for different intervention strategies aimed at boys and girls who have been exposed to maternal depression, focusing on developmental tasks and with special attention to both genders during school age and to girls during adolescence.
Depression; mothers; child behavior; gender; health
