Maternal Depression and Child Development at 3 Years of Age: a Longitudinal Study in a Brazilian Child Development Promotion Program

Overview

Journal Pediatr Res

Specialties Biology
Pediatrics

Date 2023 Nov 11

PMID 37952057

Authors

Ina S Santos

Cauane Blumenberg

Tiago N Munhoz

Alicia Matijasevich

Cristiane Salum

Hernane G Santos Junior

Leticia Marques Dos Santos

Luciano L Correia

Marta Rovery de Souza

Pedro I C Lira

Caroline C Bortolotto

Raquel Barcelos

Elisa Altafim

Marina Fragata Chicaro

Esmeralda Correa Macana

Ronaldo Souza da Silva

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: We tested the hypothesis that children of non-depressed mothers perform better in a developmental test at 3 years than children of depressed mothers.

Method: Longitudinal analysis from a trial to assess the impact of a child development promotion program in 30 Brazilian municipalities. Mothers and children were appraised at first-year post-partum, 1 and 3 years after enrollment. Child development was assessed through the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ3) and maternal depression through the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS). Crude and adjusted beta coefficients were obtained by linear regression before and after multiple imputation.

Results: In total, 2098 mother/child dyads were included and 8.2% of the mothers had persistent depressive symptoms. There was a decrease in ASQ3 as the number of follow-ups with EPDS ≥ 10 increased (p for trend <0.001). In adjusted analysis, the direction of the association persisted but lost statistical significance. After multiple imputation, children from mothers with EPDS ≥ 10 in three follow-ups presented a decrease of about 14 points in ASQ3 (adjusted beta coefficient = -13.79; -22.59 to -5.00) (p for trend = 0.001).

Conclusions: Identification of women at increased risk of depression should be among the primary health care sector priorities in maternal and child health in Brazil.

Impact: In our population study, almost one in every ten women presented persistent depression symptoms across the first 3 years postpartum. In adjusted analysis there was a detrimental impact of persistent maternal depression on child development at 3 years of age. The persistent exposure to maternal depression across early childhood negatively influences children's development. Considering its prevalence, identification of women at increased risk of depression should be among the primary health care sector priorities in maternal and child health in Brazil.

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