M. J. Andersen

Chronicity, Severity, and Timing of Maternal Depressive Symptoms: Relationships with Child Outcomes at Age 5.

The relationships between severity, chronicity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child outcomes were examined in a cohort of 4,953 children. Mothers provided self-reports of depressive symptoms during pregnancy, immediately postpartum, and when the child was 6 months old and 5 years old. At the age 5 follow-up, mothers reported on childrens behavior and children completed a receptive vocabulary test. Results suggest that both the severity and the chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms are related to more behavior problems and lower vocabulary scores in children. The interaction of severity and chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms was significantly related to higher levels of child behavior problems. Timing of maternal symptoms was not significantly related to child vocabulary scores, but more recent reports of maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher rates of child behavior problems.

Maternal cigarette smoking and child psychiatric morbidity: a longitudinal study.

Objective. Previous studies have linked maternal smoking during pregnancy with behavioral disturbance in children. However, additional evidence is needed to address the causality of the relationship. The present study analyses result from an Australian cohort of 5342 5-year-old children whose mothers were recruited early in pregnancy. Methods. Smoking history was gathered for prepregnancy, first clinic visit (FCV), late pregnancy, and when the child was 6 months and 5 years of age. Behavior problems at the age of 5 were assessed using a modified Child Behavior Check List (CBCL) shown to have high agreement with the complete CBCL. This resulted in the formation of three scales: internalizing; social, attentional and thought; and externalizing behavior problems, which were then dichotimized at the 90th percentile in each case. Logistic regression was used to model these outcomes as a function of maternal smoking at five time points during which it was assessed. A series of models explored the effect of additional adjustment for confounding. The predictors of attrition (29.5%) throughout the cohort were also identified by multivariate modeling. Results. The final analysis was carried out on a cohort of mother-child pairs for whom data and child behavior outcomes were complete. The mean age of children was 5 years, 6 months with a range from 4 to 6 years. The mean age of mothers at the time of birth of the child was 25 years, with a range from 13 to 47 years. Mothers lost to follow-up were more likely to be younger, single, and less well-educated than those who continued participation, although maternal smoking was not an independent determinant. Unadjusted analyses showed strong associations between externalizing child behavior and maternal smoking during pregnancy and at the 5-year follow-up, with relative risks (RRs) up to 2.6 for children of women smoking at least 20 cigarettes per day at the first antenatal clinic visit. A clear dose-response relationship existed in most relationships with higher levels of smoking being associated with higher rates of externalizing behavior problems. Weaker relationships occurred for internalizing behavior and social, attentional and thought behavior problems. Multivariate analysis of the timing in more detail that the association between maternal smoking and child behavior problems persisted, although the evidence for dose-response diminished. Moreover, it was primarily associated with smoking as determined by questions asked at the FCV (RR = 1.52, 2.03, 2.16) for 1 to 9, 10 to 19, and ≥20 cigarettes per day, respectively, compared with nonsmoking and secondarily by smoking determined at the 5-year follow-up (RR = 1.52, 1.87, 1.29) for 1 to 9, 10 to 19, and ≥20 cigarettes per day respectively, compared with nonsmoking. This association appeared to be independent of a wide range of possible confounders such as maternal age, education, social class, marital status and mental health, gestation at FCV, complications during pregnancy, the childs sex, gestational age at birth, and age at last follow-up. Adjustments were also made for the mothers employment since birth, family structure, and maternal mental health at the time of the CBCL assessment. Associations between externalizing behavior problems and maternal smoking at other times, and those between other behavioral problems examined and maternal smoking were not significant. Conclusion. Although previous studies have found evidence for an association between maternal smoking and child behavior problems, the strength of this study lies in its size, its detailed and consistent measurement of maternal smoking, and its ability to control for many social and biological factors linked to maternal smoking and child behavior. The statistical evidence for a causal relationship between maternal smoking as measured at the first antenatal clinic visit and the development of externalizing behavior in children is strongly suggestive, because of the specificity of effect and timing, and the adjustment for a comprehensive range of other risk factors. An alternative explanation that mothers who smoke might be inclined to report behavior problems differently was considered unlikely because the effect was specific to externalizing behavior and the major exposure occurred 5 years before the reported behavior. Additionally, the existence of a factor (beyond those already included in the analysis) that might be related to both behavior problems and any propensity to misreport smoking seems sufficiently implausible to rule out misclassification of smoking status as another alternative explanation for the findings. The timing of the relationship between smoking in pregnancy and externalizing behavior problems, and its independence of small for gestational age status at birth, suggests that placental insufficiency and oxygen deprivation are not important in the pathogenesis. It is possible that nicotine in the fetal brain derived from maternal smoking may alter gene expression and the nature and function of the nicotine receptors developing in early pregnancy. The presence of a separate, although slightly weaker, association between concurrent maternal smoking and externalizing child behavior suggests both biological and social explanations, including a direct psychopharmocologic effect of nicotine through passive smoking. Assuming the relationship to be causal, it is estimated that maternal smoking in early pregnancy may account for 25% of externalizing (aggressive) behavior while maternal smoking when the child is 5 years old may account for an additional 16%. These findings provide further support for antismoking programs in pregnancy and in young family settings.

Bias influencing maternal reports of child behaviour and emotional state

Background: Previous research has indicated that there may be only a modest degree of agreement between different reporters of a childs behaviour (mental health). This raises the possibility that some descriptions of the childs behaviour may reflect the personal characteristics of the respondent. We examine two potential sources of bias that may influence reports of a childs behaviour/mental health. The first is the mental or emotional impairment of the respondent; the second concerns gender-related expectations of children. Methods: Mothers (and their children after the birth) were assessed at first clinic visit, 3–5 days after the birth, then 6 months, 5 years and 14 years after the birth. Some 70% of respondents giving birth remained in the study at the 14-year follow-up, leaving some 5277 cases for this analysis. At the 14-year follow-up, child behaviour (mental health) was assessed using the Child Behaviour Check List and the Youth Self Report. Maternal mental health was determined using the anxiety and depression subscales of the Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory. Results: Mothers who were not emotionally impaired reported fewer child behaviour problems than did the children themselves. As the mothers current emotional impairment increased, so her reports of the childs behaviour problems increased, when compared with the childs own reports. Further, mothers attributed more internalising symptoms to female respondents, and more externalising symptoms to male respondents, than did the child respondents themselves. Conclusions: Mothers differ systematically from their children when they are reporting their childs behaviour (mental health). The more emotionally impaired the mother, the greater the degree to which she imputes the child to have behaviour problems. Further, female children are attributed to have more internalising behaviours and male children externalising behaviours.

Postnatal depression - myth and reality: maternal depression before and after the birth of a child

Abstract  Background: Much has been written about postnatal depression as a clinical condition. There is some evidence to suggest that a substantial proportion of women who give birth experience a depression in the postnatal period. This paper reports the results of a longitudinal study of the mental health of a large sample of women who were in the early stages of pregnancy at entry to the study. Methods: Each participant was assessed for symptoms of depression at the first clinic visit (entry to the study), and reassessed at various intervals – at 3–5 days, at 6 months, and again at 5 years after the birth of the child – using the DSSI-D (Delusions-Symptoms-States Inventory). Results: Retrospective recall questions indicate that shortly after the birth the majority of women experienced some depressed mood. Of those who experienced depressed mood, the data suggest that the symptoms were not severe, nor did these symptoms generally continue beyond a few weeks. The longitudinal data indicate that levels of depression in our sample are highest either at the first clinic visit or at the 5-year follow-up. Rates of depression at the 6-month follow-up are relatively low by comparison. Conclusion: While most mothers experience periods of depressed mood after the birth of their baby, these periods are generally of short duration and of lesser intensity than a major depression. Mothers appear to experience increasing levels of symptoms of depression as their child grows up. Many of the “cases” of depression experienced at the 5-year follow-up represent a recurrence of a previous experience of depression.

Impact of Family Type and Family Quality on Child Behavior Problems: A Longitudinal Study

OBJECTIVE In the context of substantial changes in family types and even family quality in recent times, this study is concerned with the extent to which family type and quality impacts on child behavior problems. METHOD A sample of 8,556 pregnant women were enrolled in a prospective, longitudinal study. Details of changes in family type and family quality (assessed using Spanier Dyadic Adjustment Scale) were used to predict three second-order syndromes developed from the Child Behavior Checklist and administered to the mothers when the child was 5 years of age. RESULTS Mothers who experienced no partner changes (married and single) reported the lowest rates of child behavior problems for the three syndromes used in this study. In addition, mothers who more often described their relationship with their partner as poor also reported the highest rate of child behavior problems across all three syndromes. Adjustment for possible confounders did not alter these findings. CONCLUSION Both changes of partner and dyadic conflict appear to lead to child behavior problems, with the latter factor appearing to have a greater impact than the former. Mothers who experienced no partner changes and no conflict appeared to have children with the fewest behavior problems.

The Relationship Between Low Family Income and Psychological Disturbance in Young Children: An Australian Longitudinal Study

Objective: This study examines the relationship between low family income (LFI) experienced at different points in time, chronic low income status and its impact on child behaviour measured at 5 years of age. Method: Longitudinal data from the Mater University Study of Pregnancy were used to measure LFI in families at three points in time (the antenatal period, 6 months post birth and at 5 years cf age). Outcome variables were three independent groups of behaviour problems labelled as externalising, social, attentional and thought (SAT) problems, and internalising problems. These groups were developed from the Child Behaviour Checklist. An analysis based on logistic regression modelling was carried out examining the relationship between LFI and a range of intermediate variables known to be associated with child behaviour problems. Results: The more often families experienced low income, the higher the rate of child behaviour problems at age 5. Low family income was still independently associated with SAT behaviour problems after controlling for smoking in the first trimester, parenting styles, maternal depression and marital dysharmony at age 5. The association between LFI and internalising and externalising behaviour problems was largely mediated by maternal depression. Conclusion: Low family income is a significant factor in the aetiology of a variety of child behaviour problems. The mechanisms involved in the link between LFI and hildhood internalising and externalising behaviours involve the exposure of the children to maternal depression. However, the relationship between LFI and SAT behaviour problems remains to be elucidated.

Prediction of obesity in children at 5 years: a cohort study.

Objective: To examine determinants of moderate and severe obesity in children at 5 years of age.

The mental health of women 6 months after they give birth to an unwanted baby: A longitudinal study

This study reports a longitudinal prospective study of the impact of an unwanted pregnancy on the mental health of the mother. Data are derived from a Brisbane, Australian sample of 8556 mothers who were enrolled at their first clinic visit (mean gestation 18 weeks) and then interviewed again some 3-5 days after the birth and when the baby was 6 months of age. Standard scales of mental health were administered on each of these occasions and mothers whose babies were unwanted were compared with the rest of the sample. The results indicate that mothers of unwanted children have somewhat higher rates of anxiety and depression than the comparison group, but that the magnitude of the mental health differences between the two groups: (a) diminishes over the period of the follow-up, (b) may be partly attributable to the prior poor mental health of women giving birth to an unplanned and unwanted baby, (c) is such that relatively few women who give birth to an unwanted baby experience mental health problems. The paper considers the implications of these results for health planners, notes the absence of contrary data and the need to acknowledge that these results may reflect situational factors which are characteristic of but not necessarily limited to Brisbane.

The effect of breastfeeding on child development at 5 years : A cohort study

Objective: It is uncertain to what degree the relationship between breastfeeding and later cognitive development is a true biological effect, or is confounded by psychosocial factors. The study aim was to further investigate this relationship and the effect of duration of breast feeding on cognitive development.

Early Adolescent Smoking and a Web of Personal and Social Disadvantage

Objective:  To examine concurrent physical, educational, behavioural, social and family factors associated with cigarette smoking in adolescents at 14 years.