Examining the association of maternal depressive symptoms in early and middle childhood and academic outcomes in adolescence : does timing of exposure matter?
- UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Imani N. Mitchell (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
- Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
- Advisor
- Sudha Shreeniwas
Abstract: Major depression is the most common mental health disorder in the United States. Research has begun to investigate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and academic outcomes among children. However, the educational impact of exposure to maternal depressive symptoms in minority youth is often understudied. Further, the effects of the timing of experiencing maternal depressive symptoms on youth educational outcomes has also been less examined. The current study is a secondary data analysis that examined the association between experiencing maternal depressive symptoms in early and middle childhood and academic outcomes in adolescence among African American and Hispanic youth. The final sample included 2,568 African American and Hispanic mothers from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study. This study was framed in the life course theory. The study used multivariate linear regressions to estimate how maternal depressive symptoms at year 3 and year 9 were related to academic outcomes at year 15 among African American and Hispanic youth in two separate analyses, as well as the interaction of race and depressive symptoms on academic outcomes in the combined sample in a third analysis. Maternal depressive symptoms at year 3 were significantly related to lower academic performance (behavior difficulties) for African American (?? = 0.06, p < 0.04), and Hispanic youth (?? = 0.08, p < 0.03). No significant relationships were found for the impact of maternal depressive symptoms at year 3 (?? = 0.00, p < 0.93) (?? = 0.05, p < 0.22) and academic achievement (grade difficulties). Maternal depressive symptoms at year 9 were not significantly associated with academic achievement (grade difficulties) for African American youth (?? = 0.03, p < 0.25) or Hispanic youth (?? = 0.00, p < 0.92). Maternal depressive symptoms at year 9 were not associated with academic performance (behavior difficulties) in African American youth (?? = 0.04, p < 0.16) or Hispanic youth (?? = 0.06, p < 0.11). The interaction between race and maternal depressive symptoms at year 3 was not significantly associated with academic achievement (grade difficulties) (?? = -0.04, p < 0.34) or academic performance (behavior difficulties (?? = -0.02, p < 0.57) for African American and Hispanic youth. The interaction between race and maternal depressive symptoms at year 9 was not significantly associated with academic achievement (grade difficulties) (?? = 0.03, p < 0.46) or academic performance (behavior difficulties) (?? = -0.03, p < 0.54). These findings indicate that the impact of maternal depressive symptoms experienced earlier in childhood were more educationally impactful in adolescence, in both race groups. They provide important information to practitioners and policymakers on potential mechanisms to reduce the education gap among minority students, as well as ways to center minority experiences in research. [This abstract may have been edited to remove characters that will not display in this system. Please see the PDF for the full abstract.]
Examining the association of maternal depressive symptoms in early and middle childhood and academic outcomes in adolescence : does timing of exposure matter?
PDF (Portable Document Format)
447 KB
Created on 5/1/2022
Views: 118
Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- Language: English
- Date: 2022
- Keywords
- Academic outcomes, Adolescence, Maternal depression
- Subjects
- Children of minorities $x Education
- Academic achievement
- Depression in women
- Mother and child