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How Maternal Trauma Exposure Contributed to Children’s Depressive Symptoms following the Wenchuan Earthquake: A Multiple Mediation Model Study

Author

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  • Yiming Liang

    (Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Yiming Zhao

    (Shanghai Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Psychological Crisis Intervention, Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China)

  • Yueyue Zhou

    (School of Psychology, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Zhengkui Liu

    (CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health, Institute of Psychology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China)

Abstract

Although well-established literature has indicated the burden of mental health among victims after the Wenchuan earthquake, no research has focused on the mental health of mothers and their children who experienced the earthquake and were pregnant during or shortly after it. This study investigates the relationship between maternal trauma exposure (TE) and children’s depressive symptoms after the Wenchuan earthquake and explores the risk and protective factors underlying this relationship. A sample of 547 mother-child dyads, in which the mother experienced the Wenchuan earthquake, was used to assess maternal depressive symptoms, maternal TE, children’s depressive symptoms, children’s perceived impact of the earthquake and maternal posttraumatic growth (PTG). The results showed that maternal TE had two significant one-step indirect associations with children’s depressive symptoms (through children’s perceived impact of the earthquake and maternal PTG) and one two-step indirect association with children’s depressive symptoms (through maternal depressive symptoms via children’s perceived impact of the earthquake). The results indicated that maternal depressive symptoms, children’s perceived impact of the earthquake and maternal PTG mediated the association between maternal TE and children’s depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the importance of mothers in supporting the mental health of these children. Maternal depressive symptoms and PTG, two posttraumatic outcomes, played positive and negative roles in the intergenerational transmission of trauma. Thus, post-disaster interventions should reduce the maternal transmission of trauma-related information and improve maternal PTG to support children’s mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Yiming Liang & Yiming Zhao & Yueyue Zhou & Zhengkui Liu, 2022. "How Maternal Trauma Exposure Contributed to Children’s Depressive Symptoms following the Wenchuan Earthquake: A Multiple Mediation Model Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:16881-:d:1004845
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Andrea Kutinova Menclova & Steven Stillman, 2020. "Maternal stress and birth outcomes: Evidence from an unexpected earthquake swarm," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(12), pages 1705-1720, December.
    2. Florencia Torche, 2018. "Prenatal Exposure to an Acute Stressor and Children’s Cognitive Outcomes," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(5), pages 1611-1639, October.
    3. Arindam Nandi & Sumit Mazumdar & Jere R. Behrman, 2018. "The effect of natural disaster on fertility, birth spacing, and child sex ratio: evidence from a major earthquake in India," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 267-293, January.
    4. Hung Wong & Yunong Huang & Yao Fu & Yin Zhang, 2019. "Impacts of Structural Social Capital and Cognitive Social Capital on the Psychological Status of Survivors of the Yaan Earthquake," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 14(5), pages 1411-1433, November.
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