Abstract
Background: Maternal depression affects a high proportion of women during the antenatal and postnatal period in low- and middle-income countries. While maternal depression is recognized as a significant risk for poor early child development that warrants interventions, the effects of chronic maternal depression on children’s development are less understood. Objective: To determine the association of chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms and early child development in a rural population in southern Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This study employs data from the “Pakistan Early Child Development Scale-Up Trial,” a randomized controlled study that evaluated the integration of responsive stimulation and nutrition interventions in a community health service. In the present analysis, linear regression was used to test the effects of chronicity of high maternal depressive symptoms on children’s early development (n = 1205 mother-infant dyads). Children’s development was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development at 24 months of age. Maternal depressive symptoms were assessed at baseline and every 6 months using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire. Results: No significant associations were observed between chronic maternal depressive symptoms and child cognitive, language, or motor development after adjusting for parental characteristics, the caregiving environment and socioeconomic variables. A negative significant association between chronicity of high maternal depressive symptoms and child socio-emotional development (β coefficient −2.57, 95% CI: −5.14; −0.04) was observed after adjusting for the selected variables. Conclusions: The results suggest that interventions designed to promote early child development should also integrate repeat screening for depression and longer-term psychosocial support for mothers.
Highlights
Maternal depression affects 15.6% and 19.8% of women during antenatal and postnatal periods respectively in low- and middleincome countries (LMIC) [1]
Continuous variable variable1; categorical variable2; HOME = Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment; OMCI = Observation of Mother and Child Interaction; Chronicity of Maternal Depression Symptoms = No high depressive symptoms at any time point refers to women with a Self-Report Questionnaire-20 (SRQ-20) score
In the multivariate analysis for cognitive development, adjusting for child characteristics, the results for the first model found that episodic and chronicity of high depressive symptoms were associated with poorer child cognitive development with a decrease in the β coefficient
Summary
Maternal depression affects 15.6% and 19.8% of women during antenatal and postnatal periods respectively in low- and middleincome countries (LMIC) [1]. Low socioeconomic status (SES), inadequate support for mothers, stress, exposure to violence, and natural disasters may increase risks for depression, which might explain some differences in the higher reported prevalence of maternal depression in LMIC compared with high-income countries [1]. A systematic review and meta-analyses of the effect of maternal depression or depressive symptoms on child growth in LMIC reported that maternal depression was associated with early childhood underweight and stunting compared with children whose mothers were not presenting depression or depressive symptoms [10]. Maternal depression affects a high proportion of women during the antenatal and postnatal period in low- and middle-income countries. While maternal depression is recognized as a significant risk for poor early child development that warrants interventions, the effects of chronic maternal depression on children’s development are less understood
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
