Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers' Behavioral Symptoms?

Maternal Stress Mediates Association of Infant Socioemotional Development with Perinatal Mental Health in Socioeconomically Vulnerable Peruvian Settings

Increased maternal mental health during the perinatal period has been widely associated with a variety of positive outcomes for both mothers and infants. However, no studies in Peru have yet focused on studying maternal mental health and related psychological variables during this stage. Thus, the aim of this study was to test a model to associate a mother's parental stress with infant socioemotional difficulties and maternal mental health. The sample included 988 mothers of infants aged 6 to 18 months from Peru, all from socioeconomically vulnerable settings. The findings showed that infant socioemotional difficulties were associated with poorer maternal mental health through the mother's parental stress (χ2(7) = 28.89, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.98, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0.03). These results provide a better understanding of the key elements associated with maternal mental health during the perinatal period in Peru and offer valuable insights for developing interventions and support strategies for socioeconomically vulnerable mothers and their young children.

[Placing survival above the ideal of motherhood: experiences of migratory mourning of migrant mothers in Chile]

This article presents an approach to the phenomenon of migratory mourning of migrant mothers in Chile. Between 2021 and 2022, a qualitative exploratory study based on symbolic interactionism was carried out, in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 migrant mothers of Venezuelan (18), Peruvian (11) and Haitian (9) origin. Based on a theoretically-informed thematic analysis, three analytical categories emerged: 1) the loss of social ties and distance to their place of origin; 2) expectations versus reality; and 3) the validation of overexertion. Migrant mothers express migratory mourning with varying levels of nuance depending on their country of origin, and to a greater or lesser degree signify their experiences in terms of uprooting and the absence of support networks, which they identify as the main cause of the sadness they experience on a daily basis. This sadness increases when they negotiate their ideals regarding the upbringing of their sons and daughters in favor of material subsistence in order to achieve the goals of a better life, and for which they justify overexertion as a strategy for improvement. These pressures bring with them psychological and physical consequences and interfere with their processes of migratory mourning, compromising their mental health and that of their children.

It's not always binary: Connecting the continuum of caregiver depression with child adjustment in children who are high risk for maltreatment

BACKGROUND

Young children living with a depressed parent are at risk for developing social, behavioral, and emotional problems. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether an increase in subclinical caregiver depression scores was associated with increases in internalizing and externalizing behavior in children who are at high risk for maltreatment.

METHODS

The 1019 U.S.-based dyads consisted of predominantly single (45.53%) and Black/African American (53.29%) caregivers and high-risk 4-year-olds from the LONGSCAN study. Multivariate regression analyzes were used to evaluate the relationship between caregiver Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores, above and below the at-risk for depression CES-D score, and preschooler internalizing, externalizing, and total problem behaviors, measured with the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).

RESULTS

Caregiver CES-D score increases, above and below the at-risk for depression score, were significantly associated (p < 0.05) with increased child internalizing, externalizing, and total problem behaviors. After adjusting for covariates, among dyads whose caregivers had subclinical (CES-D < 16) scores, a one-unit score increase was significantly associated with a 0.43 increase (p = 0.00) in children's CBCL internalizing score.

LIMITATIONS

These findings are restricted to preschool children who are at risk for maltreatment, limiting generalizability.

CONCLUSIONS

Low and moderate levels of caregiver depressive symptomatology were associated with a negative influence on preschoolers' adjustment. Practitioners should consider that the link between caregiver depression and child wellbeing may lie on a continuum. With consideration of the full continuum of symptoms, early intervention and anticipatory guidance may decrease the impact of depression on the caregiver, child, and system.