Abstract
Research has documented the deleterious effects of maternal depression and childhood trauma on parenting and child development.
There are high rates of both depression and childhood trauma in new mothers participating in home visitation programs, a prevention
approach designed to optimize mother and child outcomes. Little is known about the impacts of maternal depression and childhood
trauma on parenting in the context of home visitation. This study contrasted depressed and non-depressed mothers enrolled
in the first year of a home visitation program on parenting stress, quality of home environment, social network, and psychiatric
symptoms. Mothers were young, low income, and predominantly unmarried. Results indicated that depressed mothers displayed
impairments in parenting, smaller and less robust social networks, and increased psychiatric symptoms relative to their non-depressed
counterparts. Path analyses for the full sample revealed a path linking childhood trauma, depression, and parenting stress.
Path analyses by group revealed several differential relationships between dimensions of social network and parenting. Number
of embedded networks, namely the number of different domains in which the mother is actively interacting with others, was
associated with lowered parenting stress among non-depressed mothers and increased parenting stress in their depressed counterparts
with childhood trauma histories. In depressed mothers, social network size was associated with lower levels of parenting stress
but decreased quality of the home environment, whereas number of embedded networks was positively related to quality of the
home environment. Implications of findings for home visitation programs are discussed.
There are high rates of both depression and childhood trauma in new mothers participating in home visitation programs, a prevention
approach designed to optimize mother and child outcomes. Little is known about the impacts of maternal depression and childhood
trauma on parenting in the context of home visitation. This study contrasted depressed and non-depressed mothers enrolled
in the first year of a home visitation program on parenting stress, quality of home environment, social network, and psychiatric
symptoms. Mothers were young, low income, and predominantly unmarried. Results indicated that depressed mothers displayed
impairments in parenting, smaller and less robust social networks, and increased psychiatric symptoms relative to their non-depressed
counterparts. Path analyses for the full sample revealed a path linking childhood trauma, depression, and parenting stress.
Path analyses by group revealed several differential relationships between dimensions of social network and parenting. Number
of embedded networks, namely the number of different domains in which the mother is actively interacting with others, was
associated with lowered parenting stress among non-depressed mothers and increased parenting stress in their depressed counterparts
with childhood trauma histories. In depressed mothers, social network size was associated with lower levels of parenting stress
but decreased quality of the home environment, whereas number of embedded networks was positively related to quality of the
home environment. Implications of findings for home visitation programs are discussed.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Pages 1-14
- DOI 10.1007/s10826-011-9513-9
- Authors
- Robert T. Ammerman, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, ML 3015, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Chad E. Shenk, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Angelique R. Teeters, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Jennie G. Noll, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Frank W. Putnam, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Judith B. Van Ginkel, Department of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA
- Journal Journal of Child and Family Studies
- Online ISSN 1573-2843
- Print ISSN 1062-1024