IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0217342.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How does perinatal maternal mental health explain early social inequalities in child behavioural and emotional problems? Findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study

Author

Listed:
  • Callum Rutherford
  • Helen Sharp
  • Jonathan Hill
  • Andrew Pickles
  • David Taylor-Robinson

Abstract

Background: This study aimed to assess how maternal mental health mediates the association between childhood socio-economic conditions at birth and subsequent child behavioural and emotional problem scores. Methods: Analysis of the Wirral Child Health and Development Study (WCHADS), a prospective epidemiological longitudinal study of the early origins of child mental health (n = 664). Household income at 20-weeks gestation, a measure of socio-economic conditions (SECs) in pregnancy, was the main exposure. The outcome measure was externalising and internalising problems, as measured by the Child Behaviour Checklist at 5 years. We assessed the association of household income with child behavioural outcomes in sequential linear models adjusting for maternal mental health in the pre- and post- natal period. Results: Children of mothers in more disadvantaged households had higher scores for externalising behaviour with a difference of 3.6 points comparing the most affluent to the most disadvantaged families (the socio-economic (SEC) gap). In our regression model adjusting for baseline confounders, comparing children of mothers in the most disadvantaged households to the least disadvantaged, we found that most disadvantaged children scored 45 percentage points (95% CI 9, 93) higher for externalising problems, and 42% of this difference was explained in the fully adjusted model. Adjusting for prenatal maternal depressive symptomology attenuated the SEC gap in externalising problems by about a third, rendering the association non-significant, whilst adjusting for pre- and post-natal maternal mental health attenuated the SEC gap by 42%. There was no significant relationship between household income and internalising problems. Conclusion: Social disadvantage is associated with higher child externalising behaviour problems score at age 5, and about 40% of this was explained by maternal perinatal mental health. Policies supporting maternal mental health in pregnancy are important to address the early emergence of inequalities in child mental health.

Suggested Citation

  • Callum Rutherford & Helen Sharp & Jonathan Hill & Andrew Pickles & David Taylor-Robinson, 2019. "How does perinatal maternal mental health explain early social inequalities in child behavioural and emotional problems? Findings from the Wirral Child Health and Development Study," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0217342
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0217342
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217342
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0217342&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0217342?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kiernan, Kathleen E. & Huerta, Maria Carmen, 2008. "Economic deprivation, maternal depression, parenting and children's cognitive and emotional development in early childhood," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 43720, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Allin, Sara & Stabile, Mark, 2012. "Socioeconomic status and child health: what is the role of health care, health conditions, injuries and maternal health?," Health Economics, Policy and Law, Cambridge University Press, vol. 7(2), pages 227-242, April.
    3. Reiss, Franziska, 2013. "Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 24-31.
    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. Xavier Bartoll-Roca & Gemma Serral Cano & Mònica Cortés Albaladejo & Katherine Pérez, 2024. "Household Economic Hardship and Child Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Parents’ Mental Distress in a Southern European City," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 175(1), pages 89-107, October.
    2. Yu, Linyue & Wilcox-Gök, Virginia, 2015. "The impact of maternal depression on children’s cognitive development: An analysis based on panel quantile regressions," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 107-109.
    3. Sara McLanahan, 2009. "Children in Fragile Families," Working Papers 1191, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    4. Nielsen, Line & Koushede, Vibeke & Vinther-Larsen, Mathilde & Bendtsen, Pernille & Ersbøll, Annette Kjær & Due, Pernille & Holstein, Bjørn E., 2015. "Does school social capital modify socioeconomic inequality in mental health? A multi-level analysis in Danish schools," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 35-43.
    5. Charlotte Meilstrup & Lau Caspar Thygesen & Line Nielsen & Vibeke Koushede & Donna Cross & Bjørn Evald Holstein, 2016. "Does self-efficacy mediate the association between socioeconomic background and emotional symptoms among schoolchildren?," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 61(4), pages 505-512, May.
    6. Menta, Giorgia & Lepinteur, Anthony & Clark, Andrew E. & Ghislandi, Simone & D'Ambrosio, Conchita, 2023. "Maternal genetic risk for depression and child human capital," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    7. von Hinke, Stephanie & Rice, Nigel & Tominey, Emma, 2022. "Mental health around pregnancy and child development from early childhood to adolescence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    8. Karimli, Leyla & Ssewamala, Fred M. & Neilands, Torsten B. & Wells, Christine R. & Bermudez, Laura Gauer, 2019. "Poverty, economic strengthening, and mental health among AIDS orphaned children in Uganda: Mediation model in a randomized clinical trial," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 228(C), pages 17-24.
    9. Altafim, Elisa Rachel Pisani & McCoy, Dana Charles & Linhares, Maria Beatriz Martins, 2018. "Relations between parenting practices, socioeconomic status, and child behavior in Brazil," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 93-102.
    10. Apouey, Bénédicte & Geoffard, Pierre-Yves, 2013. "Family income and child health in the UK," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 715-727.
    11. Fauth, Rebecca & Parsons, Samantha & Platt, Lucinda, 2014. "Convergence or divergence?: a longitudinal analysis of behaviour problems among disabled and non-disabled children aged 3 to 7 in England," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 59659, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    12. Schreier, Alayna & Stenersen, Madeline R. & Strambler, Michael J. & Marshall, Tim & Bracey, Jeana & Kaufman, Joy S., 2023. "Needs of caregivers of youth enrolled in a statewide system of care: A latent class analysis," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    13. Yekaterina Chzhen & Irene Moor & William Pickett & Emilia Toczydlowska & Gonneke Stevens & UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2016. "Family Affluence and Inequality in Adolescent Health and Life Satisfaction: Evidence from the HBSC study 2002-2014," Papers inwopa836, Innocenti Working Papers.
    14. Cave, Sophie Nicole & Wright, Megan & von Stumm, Sophie, 2022. "Change and stability in the association of parents' education with children's intelligence," Intelligence, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    15. Deirdre Coy & Orla Doyle, 2020. "Should Early Health Investments Work? Evidence from an RCT of a Home Visiting Programme," Working Papers 202006, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
    16. Klocke, Andreas & Stadtmüller, Sven, 2024. "Two generations later: New evidence on health equalisation in youth," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 342(C).
    17. T. Gregory & E. Dal Grande & M. Brushe & D. Engelhardt & S. Luddy & M. Guhn & A. Gadermann & K.A. Schonert-Reichl & S. Brinkman, 2021. "Associations between School Readiness and Student Wellbeing: A Six-Year Follow Up Study," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 14(1), pages 369-390, February.
    18. Chris Ryan & Anna Zhu, 2015. "Sibling Health, Schooling and Longer-Term Developmental Outcomes," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2015n21, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    19. Woong Lee & Ran Im, 2023. "An Empirical Assessment of the Interactionist Model: The Relationship Between Household Income and Depression Among Retirees in Korea," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 729-751, April.
    20. Jennifer M. Arbiol & Angelie V. Cabajes & Rey Jan S. Pusta, 2021. "Ok or Not Ok: Mental Health Conditions of the Students amidst COVID-19," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 21(1), pages 544-553, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:plo:pone00:0217342. 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: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    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.