Lynne Murray
Biographic Data
| ID | 3774454 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Lynne Murray |
| GIVEN NAMES | Lynne |
| FAMILY NAME | Murray |
| SIGNATURE | MURRAY L |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Reading |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1127-4790 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 34 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 86 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 34 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1986 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
The Role of Parenting on Child Socioemotional Development
Parental Scaffolding during Book-Sharing Predicts Child General Intelligence
First 1,000 days
BACKGROUND: Child cognitive development is often compromised in contexts of poverty and adversity, and these deficits tend to endure and affect the child across the life course. In the conditions of poverty and violence that characterise many low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the capacity of parents to provide the kind of care that promotes good child development may be severely compromised, especially where caregivers suffer from depressi…
Effects of training parents in dialogic book‐sharing
Shared picture-book reading is well-recognized as beneficial for children's early language development, especially where “dialogic book-sharing” techniques are used. Possible benefits of dialogic book-sharing to other aspects of child development have been little investigated, and it has not been widely studied in European populations. We conducted a randomized trial of dialogic book-sharing in Children's Centers in the UK, with parents of 2- to-…
Book-Sharing for Parenting and Child Development in South Africa
This study evaluated the impact of a parenting intervention on children’s cognitive and socioemotional development in a group of caregivers and their 21-to-28-month-old children in a low-income South African township. A randomized controlled trial compared an experimental group (n = 70) receiving training in dialogic book-sharing (8 weekly group sessions) with a wait-list control group (n = 70). They were assessed before the intervention, immedia…
Sculpting Culture
Mother-infant interactions, including culturally specific features, have been found to predict child socio-emotional development (e.g., social communication and emotion regulation (ER)). However, research is lacking on the specific processes involved. We used a cross-cultural, longitudinal design, and a microanalytic coding approach to address this issue. Fifty-two mother-infant dyads were recruited from the UK ( N = 21) and Italy ( N = 31), repr…
The impact of a mother–infant intervention on parenting and infant response to challenge
A pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) was conducted in El Salvador of an intervention (‘Thula Sana’) previously shown to enhance maternal sensitivity and infant security of attachment in a South African sample. In El Salvador, trained community workers delivered the intervention from late pregnancy to 6 months postpartum as part of a home‐visiting programme. The sample comprised 64 pregnant adolescent women, aged 14–19 years, living in predom…
The role of maternal anxiety disorder subtype, parenting and infant stable temperamental inhibition in child anxiety
BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) aggregates in families. To elucidate intergenerational transmission of risk, we examined whether childhood SAD and symptoms of anxiety were prospectively predicted by stable infant temperamental inhibition, maternal SAD, maternal generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and maternal parenting behaviours. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal study beginning prenatally with follow-up at 4, 10, 14 and 58 months po…
Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development
Interventions that train parents to share picture books with children are seen as a strategy for supporting child language development. We conducted meta-analyses using robust variance estimation modeling on results from 19 RCTs (Ntotal = 2,594; Mchildage = 1–6 years). Overall, book-sharing interventions had a small sized effect on both expressive language (d = 0.41) and receptive language (d = 0.26). They had a large effect on caregiver book-sha…
The stable component of maternal depressive symptoms predicts offspring emotional and behavioral symptoms
The current longitudinal analysis of maternal and child data revealed that a stable component of maternal depressive symptoms reliably predicted a wide range of child emotional and behavioral symptoms at 12 years of age
Improving mother–infant interaction during infant feeding
Effects of male postpartum depression on father–infant interaction
It is estimated that postpartum depression affects up to 25% of men. Despite such high prevalence, the majority of studies on postpartum depression are focused on mothers, and the role of paternal depression and its effects on infant development have been overlooked by researchers and clinicians. The present study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the effect of paternal postpartum depression on father–infant interactions. In addition, we ex…
Association of Persistent and Severe Postnatal Depression With Child Outcomes
Persistent and severe PND substantially raises the risk for adverse outcome on all child measures. Meeting criteria for depression both early and late in the postnatal year, especially when the mood disturbance is severe, should alert health care professionals to a depression that is likely to be persistent and to be associated with an especially elevated risk of multiple adverse child outcomes. Treatment for this group should be prioritized.
Father-Child Interactions at 3 Months and 24 Months
The quality of father–child interactions has become a focus of increasing research in the field of child development. We examined the potential contribution of father–child interactions at both 3 months and 24 months to children's cognitive development at 24 months. Observational measures of father–child interactions at 3 and 24 months were used to assess the quality of fathers’ parenting (n = 192). At 24 months, the Mental Developmental Index (M…
Maternal postnatal depression and anxiety and their association with child emotional negativity and behavior problems at two years
Postnatal maternal depression is associated with poorer child emotional and behavioral functioning, but it is unclear whether this occurs following brief episodes or only with persistent depression. Little research has examined the relation between postnatal anxiety and child outcomes. The present study examined the role of postnatal major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptom chronicity on children's emotional …
Paternal Depression in the Postnatal Period and Early Father–Infant Interactions
Objective . Paternal depressive disorder is associated with adverse effects on child development. One possible mechanism for this is through the effects of the disorder on parenting capacities. The link between paternal depression and father-infant interactions was investigated at three-months postpartum. Design . Major depressive disorder was assessed in N = 192 fathers using a structured clinical interview (SCID). Altogether, 54 fathers met cri…
Support from the Start
Purpose This paper aims to update the chapter by Sutton and Murray in Support from the Start by providing an overview of: research linking the development and experiences of infants and toddlers with the risks of later antisocial behaviour; and evidence on effective interventions for children aged 0‐2 and their families. Design/methodology/approach The authors give a narrative review on the effects on mothers and their babies of postnatal depress…
Parental incarceration, attachment and child psychopathology
Theory and evidence relating parental incarceration, attachment, and psychopathology are reviewed. Parental incarceration is a strong risk factor for long-lasting psychopathology, including antisocial and internalizing outcomes. Parental incarceration might threaten children's attachment security because of parent-child separation, confusing communication about parental absence, restricted contact with incarcerated parents, and unstable caregivin…
Infant sensitivity to negative maternal emotional shifts
This study examined the effects of infant sex, maternal postnatal depression, and maternal interactive style on infant sensitivity to maternal negative emotional shifts. Face‐to‐face interactions of 68 mother–infant dyads were analyzed at 8 and 18 weeks. Twenty‐five (28%) mothers had postnatal depression. Interactions were analyzed in terms of overall maternal interactive style: “sensitive,” “anxious,” “intrusive,” and “sad.” Episodes of negative…
Early Social Experience and Individual Differences in Infants' Joint Attention
Fifty-nine healthy infants were filmed with their mothers and with a researcher at two, four, six and nine months in face-to-face play, and in toy-play at six and nine months. During toy-play at both ages, two indices of joint attention (JA)—infant bids for attention, and percent of time in shared attention—were assessed, along with other behavioural measures. Global ratings were made at all four ages of infants' and mothers' interactive style. T…
Maternal Psychosocial Adversity and the Longitudinal Development of Infant Sleep
Research has identified associations between indicators of social disadvantage and the presence of child sleep problems. We examined the longitudinal development of infant sleep in families experiencing high ( n = 58) or low ( n = 64) levels of psychosocial adversity, and the contributions of neonatal self‐regulatory capacities and maternal settling strategies to this development. Assessments of infant sleep at 4‐, 7‐, and 12‐weeks postpartum ind…
The Mother-Infant Relationship and Infant Attachment in a South African Peri-Urban Settlement
A sample of 147 mother-infant dyads was recruited from a peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town and seen at 2- and 18-months postpartum. At 18 months, 61.9% of the infants were rated as securely attached (B); 4.1% as avoidant (A); 8.2% as resistant (C); and 25.8% disorganized (D). Postpartum depression at 2 months, and indices of poor parenting at both 2 and 18 months, were associated with insecure infant attachment. The critical 2-month predict…
Newborn Behavior and Risk of Postnatal Depression in the Mother
The aim of this study was to assess which behavioral characteristics of the newborn infant are associated with an increased risk of postnatal depression (PND) in the mother. A total of 497 mothers from a prospective cohort study were recruited during the last trimester of pregnancy. Infants were evaluated at 3 days with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Scale. Maternal PND was assessed at 6 weeks postpartum with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression…
Supporting People
The separation of housing from support and care services should lead to greater choice for service users. The process of separation has exposed the need for co‐ordination between housing, care and support to give a proper contractual framework of accountability and responsibility towards the tenant. This article gives some of the detail of funding, tenancy, support and agency agreements which provide the formal structure for joined‐up working
Transfer of a residential care home
The Mother-Infant Relationship and Infant Attachment in a South African Peri-Urban Settlement
A sample of 147 mother-infant dyads was recruited from a peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town and seen at 2- and 18-months postpartum. At 18 months, 61.9% of the infants were rated as securely attached (B); 4.1% as avoidant (A); 8.2% as resistant (C); and 25.8% disorganized (D). Postpartum depression at 2 months, and indices of poor parenting at both 2 and 18 months, were associated with insecure infant attachment. The critical 2-month predict…
The Cognitive Development of 5‐Year‐Old Children of Postnatally Depressed Mothers
As part of a longitudinal study of the influence of postnatal depression on child development, the cognitive functioning of index and control children was assessed at age 5 years. There was no evidence of an adverse effect of postnatal depression, even amongst sub‐groups of children suggested to be vulnerable (boys and children from low SES families). However, early experience of insensitive maternal interactions predicted the persistence of poor…
Maternal postnatal depression and anxiety and their association with child emotional negativity and behavior problems at two years
Postnatal maternal depression is associated with poorer child emotional and behavioral functioning, but it is unclear whether this occurs following brief episodes or only with persistent depression. Little research has examined the relation between postnatal anxiety and child outcomes. The present study examined the role of postnatal major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptom chronicity on children's emotional …
Paternal Depression in the Postnatal Period and Early Father–Infant Interactions
Objective . Paternal depressive disorder is associated with adverse effects on child development. One possible mechanism for this is through the effects of the disorder on parenting capacities. The link between paternal depression and father-infant interactions was investigated at three-months postpartum. Design . Major depressive disorder was assessed in N = 192 fathers using a structured clinical interview (SCID). Altogether, 54 fathers met cri…
Children’s Social Representations in Dolls’ House Play and Theory of Mind Tasks, and their Relation to Family Adversity and Child Disturbance
Five‐year‐old children of depressed and well mothers were assessed on theory of mind tasks, and enacted scenes from their family lives in dolls’ house play. Performance on theory of mind tasks was only weakly related to family circumstances and child distur‐bance, but was significantly associated with measures of the child’s general and verbal intelligence. In contrast, children’s social representations elicited during dolls’ house play showed sy…
Father-Child Interactions at 3 Months and 24 Months
The quality of father–child interactions has become a focus of increasing research in the field of child development. We examined the potential contribution of father–child interactions at both 3 months and 24 months to children's cognitive development at 24 months. Observational measures of father–child interactions at 3 and 24 months were used to assess the quality of fathers’ parenting (n = 192). At 24 months, the Mental Developmental Index (M…
Infant sensitivity to negative maternal emotional shifts
This study examined the effects of infant sex, maternal postnatal depression, and maternal interactive style on infant sensitivity to maternal negative emotional shifts. Face‐to‐face interactions of 68 mother–infant dyads were analyzed at 8 and 18 weeks. Twenty‐five (28%) mothers had postnatal depression. Interactions were analyzed in terms of overall maternal interactive style: “sensitive,” “anxious,” “intrusive,” and “sad.” Episodes of negative…
Effects of male postpartum depression on father–infant interaction
It is estimated that postpartum depression affects up to 25% of men. Despite such high prevalence, the majority of studies on postpartum depression are focused on mothers, and the role of paternal depression and its effects on infant development have been overlooked by researchers and clinicians. The present study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the effect of paternal postpartum depression on father–infant interactions. In addition, we ex…
Effects of training parents in dialogic book‐sharing
Shared picture-book reading is well-recognized as beneficial for children's early language development, especially where “dialogic book-sharing” techniques are used. Possible benefits of dialogic book-sharing to other aspects of child development have been little investigated, and it has not been widely studied in European populations. We conducted a randomized trial of dialogic book-sharing in Children's Centers in the UK, with parents of 2- to-…
Support from the Start
Purpose This paper aims to update the chapter by Sutton and Murray in Support from the Start by providing an overview of: research linking the development and experiences of infants and toddlers with the risks of later antisocial behaviour; and evidence on effective interventions for children aged 0‐2 and their families. Design/methodology/approach The authors give a narrative review on the effects on mothers and their babies of postnatal depress…
The infant's role in mother–infant communications
Mothers talked to their infants via a video system designed so that each partner saw a full-face, life-size image of the other on a screen before them, perfect eye-to-eye contact being possible. They were presented either with live, real-time video sequences of their infants, where communication was therefore potentially mutually responsive, or else with the same sequence replayed some minutes later. The mother's babytalk differed consistently be…
The Validation of the Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale on a Community Sample
The Edinburgh Post-natal Depression Scale (EPDS) was validated on a community sample of 702 women at six weeks post-partum using Research Diagnostic Criteria for depression. The estimates of sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value, being based on a large random sample, offer improved guidelines for the use of the EPDS by the primary care team.
Intersubjectivity, object relations theory, and empirical evidence from mother-infant interactions
The work of John Bowlby and his associates on the development of the infant's attachment to his or her parents in the second half of the first year reflects the fruitfulness of an integration of psychoanalytic insights and empirical research. In line with this approach, this paper considers the mother-infant relationship in the first few months from two perspectives: that of the British School of Object Relations and that of the theory of Intersu…
The Impact of Postnatal Depression on Infant Development
A large sample of primiparous women was screened far depression after childbirth. Those identified us depressed, women with a previous history of depression and a control group were followed up to 18 months, went their infants were assessed on measures of congomotive, spcoal and behavioural development. Infants of postnatally depressed mothers performed worse on object concept tasks, were more insecurely attached to their mothers and worst on obj…
The Impact of Postnatal Depression and Associated Adversity on Early Mother-Infant Interactions and Later Infant Outcome
The Cognitive Development of 5‐Year‐Old Children of Postnatally Depressed Mothers
As part of a longitudinal study of the influence of postnatal depression on child development, the cognitive functioning of index and control children was assessed at age 5 years. There was no evidence of an adverse effect of postnatal depression, even amongst sub‐groups of children suggested to be vulnerable (boys and children from low SES families). However, early experience of insensitive maternal interactions predicted the persistence of poor…
Post-partum depression and the mother-infant relationship in a South African peri-urban settlement
BACKGROUND: Post-partum depression in the developing world has received little research attention, and its association with disturbances in the mother-infant relationship is unknown. AIMS: To determine the prevalence of post-partum depression and associated disturbances in the mother-infant relationship in Khayelitsha, a South African peri-urban settlement. METHOD: The mental state of 147 women who had delivered two months previously was assessed…
Children’s Social Representations in Dolls’ House Play and Theory of Mind Tasks, and their Relation to Family Adversity and Child Disturbance
Five‐year‐old children of depressed and well mothers were assessed on theory of mind tasks, and enacted scenes from their family lives in dolls’ house play. Performance on theory of mind tasks was only weakly related to family circumstances and child distur‐bance, but was significantly associated with measures of the child’s general and verbal intelligence. In contrast, children’s social representations elicited during dolls’ house play showed sy…
Housing, care and support
Transfer of a residential care home
Newborn Behavior and Risk of Postnatal Depression in the Mother
The aim of this study was to assess which behavioral characteristics of the newborn infant are associated with an increased risk of postnatal depression (PND) in the mother. A total of 497 mothers from a prospective cohort study were recruited during the last trimester of pregnancy. Infants were evaluated at 3 days with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Scale. Maternal PND was assessed at 6 weeks postpartum with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression…
Supporting People
The separation of housing from support and care services should lead to greater choice for service users. The process of separation has exposed the need for co‐ordination between housing, care and support to give a proper contractual framework of accountability and responsibility towards the tenant. This article gives some of the detail of funding, tenancy, support and agency agreements which provide the formal structure for joined‐up working
The Mother-Infant Relationship and Infant Attachment in a South African Peri-Urban Settlement
A sample of 147 mother-infant dyads was recruited from a peri-urban settlement outside Cape Town and seen at 2- and 18-months postpartum. At 18 months, 61.9% of the infants were rated as securely attached (B); 4.1% as avoidant (A); 8.2% as resistant (C); and 25.8% disorganized (D). Postpartum depression at 2 months, and indices of poor parenting at both 2 and 18 months, were associated with insecure infant attachment. The critical 2-month predict…
Maternal Psychosocial Adversity and the Longitudinal Development of Infant Sleep
Research has identified associations between indicators of social disadvantage and the presence of child sleep problems. We examined the longitudinal development of infant sleep in families experiencing high ( n = 58) or low ( n = 64) levels of psychosocial adversity, and the contributions of neonatal self‐regulatory capacities and maternal settling strategies to this development. Assessments of infant sleep at 4‐, 7‐, and 12‐weeks postpartum ind…
Early Social Experience and Individual Differences in Infants' Joint Attention
Fifty-nine healthy infants were filmed with their mothers and with a researcher at two, four, six and nine months in face-to-face play, and in toy-play at six and nine months. During toy-play at both ages, two indices of joint attention (JA)—infant bids for attention, and percent of time in shared attention—were assessed, along with other behavioural measures. Global ratings were made at all four ages of infants' and mothers' interactive style. T…
Parental incarceration, attachment and child psychopathology
Theory and evidence relating parental incarceration, attachment, and psychopathology are reviewed. Parental incarceration is a strong risk factor for long-lasting psychopathology, including antisocial and internalizing outcomes. Parental incarceration might threaten children's attachment security because of parent-child separation, confusing communication about parental absence, restricted contact with incarcerated parents, and unstable caregivin…
Infant sensitivity to negative maternal emotional shifts
This study examined the effects of infant sex, maternal postnatal depression, and maternal interactive style on infant sensitivity to maternal negative emotional shifts. Face‐to‐face interactions of 68 mother–infant dyads were analyzed at 8 and 18 weeks. Twenty‐five (28%) mothers had postnatal depression. Interactions were analyzed in terms of overall maternal interactive style: “sensitive,” “anxious,” “intrusive,” and “sad.” Episodes of negative…
Support from the Start
Purpose This paper aims to update the chapter by Sutton and Murray in Support from the Start by providing an overview of: research linking the development and experiences of infants and toddlers with the risks of later antisocial behaviour; and evidence on effective interventions for children aged 0‐2 and their families. Design/methodology/approach The authors give a narrative review on the effects on mothers and their babies of postnatal depress…
Paternal Depression in the Postnatal Period and Early Father–Infant Interactions
Objective . Paternal depressive disorder is associated with adverse effects on child development. One possible mechanism for this is through the effects of the disorder on parenting capacities. The link between paternal depression and father-infant interactions was investigated at three-months postpartum. Design . Major depressive disorder was assessed in N = 192 fathers using a structured clinical interview (SCID). Altogether, 54 fathers met cri…
Father-Child Interactions at 3 Months and 24 Months
The quality of father–child interactions has become a focus of increasing research in the field of child development. We examined the potential contribution of father–child interactions at both 3 months and 24 months to children's cognitive development at 24 months. Observational measures of father–child interactions at 3 and 24 months were used to assess the quality of fathers’ parenting (n = 192). At 24 months, the Mental Developmental Index (M…
Maternal postnatal depression and anxiety and their association with child emotional negativity and behavior problems at two years
Postnatal maternal depression is associated with poorer child emotional and behavioral functioning, but it is unclear whether this occurs following brief episodes or only with persistent depression. Little research has examined the relation between postnatal anxiety and child outcomes. The present study examined the role of postnatal major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) symptom chronicity on children's emotional …
Association of Persistent and Severe Postnatal Depression With Child Outcomes
Persistent and severe PND substantially raises the risk for adverse outcome on all child measures. Meeting criteria for depression both early and late in the postnatal year, especially when the mood disturbance is severe, should alert health care professionals to a depression that is likely to be persistent and to be associated with an especially elevated risk of multiple adverse child outcomes. Treatment for this group should be prioritized.
Effects of male postpartum depression on father–infant interaction
It is estimated that postpartum depression affects up to 25% of men. Despite such high prevalence, the majority of studies on postpartum depression are focused on mothers, and the role of paternal depression and its effects on infant development have been overlooked by researchers and clinicians. The present study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the effect of paternal postpartum depression on father–infant interactions. In addition, we ex…
The role of maternal anxiety disorder subtype, parenting and infant stable temperamental inhibition in child anxiety
BACKGROUND: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) aggregates in families. To elucidate intergenerational transmission of risk, we examined whether childhood SAD and symptoms of anxiety were prospectively predicted by stable infant temperamental inhibition, maternal SAD, maternal generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and maternal parenting behaviours. METHODS: We conducted a longitudinal study beginning prenatally with follow-up at 4, 10, 14 and 58 months po…
Shared Picture Book Reading Interventions for Child Language Development
Interventions that train parents to share picture books with children are seen as a strategy for supporting child language development. We conducted meta-analyses using robust variance estimation modeling on results from 19 RCTs (Ntotal = 2,594; Mchildage = 1–6 years). Overall, book-sharing interventions had a small sized effect on both expressive language (d = 0.41) and receptive language (d = 0.26). They had a large effect on caregiver book-sha…
Psychology (28 works) · Developmental psychology (26 works) · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development (22 works) · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum (20 works) · Medicine (17 works) · Psychiatry (15 works) · Clinical Psychology (13 works) · Pregnancy (9 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (7 works) · Child development (7 works)