Study: Some stressed moms get hostile, some seem insensitive

Parenting is often stressful, but new research shows why chronic stress impairs the way mothers react to children.

Researchers measured the physiological stress responses of 153 mothers (about half low-income, half middle- to upper-income) and found that those facing ongoing stress, such as depression or poverty, were either more harsh and hostile or more insensitive and neglectful toward their toddlers.

The study, published online in the journal Development and Psychopathology, shows chronic stress disrupts the body's natural stress response, which is to react and then recover, says lead author Melissa Sturge-Apple, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Rochester in New York.

Researchers used a wireless electrocardiograph monitor to analyze changes in mothers' heart rhythms as children were placed in a mildly distressing situation and then observed the pairs during play. They also asked questions about symptoms of depression.

Mothers with more depressive symptoms showed heart rate patterns that began higher and rose during their toddlers' distress. After being reunited, moms' heart rates remained elevated and their actions were more hostile, such as making derogatory comments in an angry tone. Mothers in poverty had heart rates that began lower and rose little during their child's distress. During play, they were more likely to ignore their kids and not respond when toddlers wanted attention.

"Mothers with higher levels of depressive symptoms were more reactive; the ones in poverty were more likely to be less reactive," Sturge-Apple says.

The body handles stress either by heightening reactions or shutting down; what's counterintuitive, she says, is that those more likely to be depressed aren't withdrawn but rather hostile and angry.

Those results confirm what sociologist Robin Simon of Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., found in a 2010 study published in the journal Social Forces. She sees a clear link between depression and anger and hostility.

"They're already in a funk, so they're going to be more reactive. At the same time, greater reactivity to parental stress may be why they're depressed," she says.

Economist Julieta Lugo-Gil, a senior researcher at Mathematica Policy Research Inc. in Princeton, N.J., also has studied low-income mothers. Her analysis of 2,089 mothers with kids 14 months to 3 years was published in 2008 in the journal Child Development.

It found that factors such as the mother's education and literacy level and whether she lived with the child's father help her be more sensitive and supportive when a child is upset.

"If you have less resources, then the quality of the interaction is not as good," she says

CDC: 18 people dead in listeria outbreak tied to cantaloupe

The death toll in the listeria outbreak linked to cantaloupes from a Colorado farm rose to 18 and could continue to climb, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday.
About 100 people in 20 states have become sick from the outbreak, the CDC said.
MORE: Cantaloupes can be risky, depending on the skin
STORY: Long road from farm to fork worsens food illnesses
The federal agency has confirmed five deaths in both Colorado and New Mexico, two each in Kansas and Texas, and one each in Maryland, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma.
Wyoming's Health Department said it confirmed a death in that state linked to the outbreak, but the CDC did not include that case in its count.
The outbreak has been linked to Rocky Ford-brand cantaloupes sold by Jensen Farms near Holly, Colo. The cantaloupes were recalled Sept. 14, and no melons under the recall should still be on store shelves. The first illnesses began after July31.
Symptoms of listeria can take up to two months to develop in someone who has eaten contaminated food, so illnesses could continue to show up into November, the CDC said.
Most of the contaminated melons should be out of the food supply by now. The CDC and the Food and Drug Administration said any cantaloupes not from Jensen Farms are safe to eat.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said Tuesday that her agency is investigating the cause of the outbreak.
The FDA and CDC have had teams in Jensen Farms fields and packing sheds, testing the soil, water and surfaces for clues. Listeria bacteria grow in moist, muddy conditions and are often carried by animals.
Listeria is a rare but dangerous bacteria that kills approximately 30% of its victims and can send up to 90% of the elderly people who get it to the hospital.
It can cause mild illnesses in pregnant women, but it can also result in stillbirths or miscarriages. In the past, listeria has been most strongly linked to deli meats and soft cheeses, not produce.
The outbreak is the deadliest in the USA in the past 10 years. The second deadliest was the salmonella outbreak in peanut products linked to the Peanut Corp. of America in 2008. That outbreak killed nine people and sickened more than 700.
Before then, the deadliest food-borne illness outbreak was in 1985, when a Mexican-style cheese contaminated with listeria from Jalisco Products killed 18 people and sickened 86 others. That outbreak resulted in four miscarriages, the CDC said.
Contributing: The Associated Press