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Maternal Depression in Early Childhood and Developmental Vulnerability at School Entry [pediatircs.aappublications.org]

 

By Elizabeth Wall-Wieler, Leslie L. Roos, and Ian H. Gotlib, Pediatrics, August 2020

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relation between exposure to maternal depression before age 5 and 5 domains of developmental vulnerability at school entry, overall, and by age at exposure.

METHODS: This cohort study included all children born in Manitoba, Canada, who completed the Early Development Instrument between 2005 and 2016 (N = 52 103). Maternal depression was defined by using physician visits, hospitalizations, and pharmaceutical data; developmental vulnerability was assessed by using the Early Development Instrument. Relative risk of developmental vulnerability was assessed by using log-binomial regression models adjusted for characteristics at birth.

RESULTS: Children exposed to maternal depression before age 5 had a 17% higher risk of having at least 1 developmental vulnerability at school entry than did children not exposed to maternal depression before age 5. Exposure to maternal depression was most strongly associated with difficulties in social competence (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.28; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.20–1.38), physical health and well-being (aRR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.20–1.36), and emotional maturity (aRR = 1.27; 95% CI: 1.18–1.37). For most developmental domains, exposure to maternal depression before age 1 and between ages 4 and 5 had the strongest association with developmental vulnerability.

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