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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Anne W. Riley, PhD, Mary Jo Coiro, PhD, Marina Broitman, PhD, Kristen M Hurley, MPH, and Maureen A Keefer, BA. Department of Health Policy and Management, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 624 N. Broadway, Room 692, Baltimore, MD 21205-1996, 410-955-1058, ariley@jhsph.edu
Reducing the impact of maternal depression has recently been recognized as a potentially powerful way to reduce the prevalence of child psychiatric disorder and impairment. Identification of the most common consequences of maternal depression is a necessary step toward identifying key mechanisms of transmission and for developing appropriate interventions. Data were collected from 41 low-income, depressed mothers, their 6-10 year old children, and the child’s father or father figure, and from 26 demographically-matched families with non-depressed mothers. Mothers were recruited from primary care medical clinics and social service settings (e.g., WIC, TANF). Children were primarily African American (51%) or Latino (44%), 51% were female, and the average child age was 7.5 years (SD=1.3). We examined a total of 14 indicators across 5 domains of children’s well-being: behavior problems, academic achievement, social competence, physical health, and emotional well-being. Indicators were based on mother, father, and child report and direct assessment, with 2-4 indicators in each domain. Children of depressed mothers were significantly more likely than children of non-depressed mothers to exhibit problems in the areas of behavior problems (26% v. 0%, p<.05), social competence (27% v. 5%, p<.05) and emotional well-being (39% v. 5%, p<.01), but not in academic functioning or physical health. The role of the health, mental health, and education systems in preventing and reducing the negative consequences of maternal depression for children are discussed.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Child/Adolescent Mental Health, Depression
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.