IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i24p16881-d1004845.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

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

Author

Listed:
  • 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
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16881/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16881/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    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. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Noghanibehambari, Hamid, 2022. "In utero exposure to natural disasters and later-life mortality: Evidence from earthquakes in the early twentieth century," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    2. Par, Tial Len & Ten, Gi Khan & Lee, Ju-Ho, 2022. "Early-life exposure to earthquakes and its long-term effects on human capital outcomes: The case of Myanmar," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    3. Tian, Xinping & Gong, Jinquan & Zhai, Zhe, 2022. "Natural disasters and human capital accumulation: Evidence from the 1976 Tangshan earthquake," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    4. Cruzatti C., John & Rieger, Matthias, 2024. "Shaken, Not Stunted? Global Evidence on Natural Disasters, Child Growth and Recovery," IZA Discussion Papers 17372, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Fumarco, Luca & Principe, Francesco, 2021. "More goals, fewer babies? On national team performance and birth rates," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    6. Ceron, Francisco I. & Bol, Thijs & van de Werfhorst, Herman G., 2022. "The dynamics of achievement inequality: The role of performance and choice in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    7. Francisco Gallego & Jeanne Lafortune, 2023. "Baby commodity booms? The impact of commodity shocks on fertility decisions and outcomes," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 295-320, January.
    8. Paudel, Jayash, 2021. "Short-run environmental effects of COVID-19: Evidence from forest fires," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    9. Idriss Fontaine & Sabine Garabedian & David Nortes Martínez & Hélène Vérèmes, 2021. "Tropical Cyclones and Fertility : New Evidence from Madagascar," Working Papers hal-03243455, HAL.
    10. Sari, Emre & Moilanen, Mikko & Sommerseth, Hilde Leikny, 2021. "Transgenerational health effects of in utero exposure to economic hardship: Evidence from preindustrial Southern Norway," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    11. Zhongsheng Wu & Angela Bies, 2021. "Volunteering and Self-Rated Health in Urban China: New Evidence from Analyses of Treatment-Effects Models," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 16(5), pages 2185-2201, October.
    12. Kati Kraehnert & Tilman Brück & Michele Di Maio & Roberto Nisticò, 2019. "The Effects of Conflict on Fertility: Evidence From the Genocide in Rwanda," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(3), pages 935-968, June.
    13. Fabrizio Bernardi & Risto Conte Keivabu, 2023. "Poor air at school and educational inequalities by family socioeconomic status," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-014, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    14. Mohammad Reza Farzanegan & Sven Fischer, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Marriage and Childbirth: Survey-based Evidence from Iran," MAGKS Papers on Economics 202320, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    15. Amit Summan & Arindam Nandi, 2022. "Timing of non-pharmaceutical interventions to mitigate COVID-19 transmission and their effects on mobility: a cross-country analysis," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 23(1), pages 105-117, February.
    16. Gby Atee & Aparajita Dasgupta & Sneha Lamba, 2024. "The Effect of COVID-19 on Fertility in India: Evidence from the National Family Health Survey," Working Papers 115, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    17. 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.
    18. Shreyasee Das & Shatanjaya Dasgupta, 2019. "Marriage Market Responses in the Wake of a Natural Disaster in India," DETU Working Papers 1902, Department of Economics, Temple University.
    19. Berthelon, Matias & Kruger, Diana & Sanchez, Rafael, 2021. "Maternal stress during pregnancy and early childhood development," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    20. Shichao Du & Chin-Han Chan, 2023. "Baby Boom or Baby Bust After the COVID-19 Onset in the United States? Evidence from an ARIMA Time-Series Analysis," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-22, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:16881-:d:1004845. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.