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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Lorenza Holt, MPH, Maternal and Child Health Department, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T5-W, Boston, MA 02118, 617-414-1346, lholt@bu.edu, Emily Feinberg, ScD, CPNP, Department of Maternal and Child Health, Boston University School of Public Health, 715 Albany Street, T5W, Boston, MA 02118, Niem Nay-Kret, Southeast Asian Bilingual Advocates, Inc, 165 Jackson St., Lowell, MA 01852, and Rena T. Theum, 50 Arcand Dr., Lowell, MA 01852.

The effects of war and torture on the emotional health of Cambodian survivors have been well documented. However, depression among young Cambodian mothers, who may not have directly experienced these traumatic events, has received little attention. Depression, operates intergenerationally as maternal depression is associated with poor child developmental outcomes. We conducted ten in-depth ethnographic interviews with Cambodian mothers, grandmothers, fathers, medical providers and community leaders to explore the cultural attitudes that influence the responses of Cambodian residents when asked to disclose and describe symptoms of maternal depression. Eight of the interviews were conducted in English and two with a Khmer interpreter. The interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. These were coded to identify recurring themes and then analyzed. Depressive symptoms were common and were attributed to a specific cause or situation, such as abandonment and poverty, rather than a biomedical cause. Cambodian mothers raising young children today associated the effects their own mother's depression has had on them and how this is impacting their own parenting. As in other multicultural communities, respondents identified the barriers to effective detection as the lack of understanding about maternal depression and having limited knowledge of available community and health care resources. An effective response to maternal depression within the Cambodian community must 1) improve mental health literacy thereby reducing stigma and improving the community's understanding of maternal depression and its symptoms; and 2) identify and publicize culturally appropriate and acceptable services and treatments that are available for mothers of young children.

Learning Objectives: