Depression during gestation in adolescent mothers interferes with neonatal neurobehavior.

Objective: To compare the neurobehavior of neonates born to adolescent mothers with and without depression during gestation.

Methods: This prospective cross-sectional study included healthy term neonates born to adolescent mothers with untreated depression during gestation, without exposure to legal or illicit drugs, and compared them with infants born to adolescent mothers without psychiatric disorders. Maternal psychiatric diagnoses were assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI 2.