Ethnic and contextual factors that mediate/moderate the associations between maternal depression and early social-emotional development in Asian Americans

Background: Maternal depression is among the most consistent risk factors for childhood anxiety and disruptive behavior disorders. However, little is known about how specific ethnic cultural beliefs and other contextual factors moderate or mediate the impact of maternal depression on child development in Asian Americans.

Methods: Data were obtained from the 9-month and 2-years-old interview of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Survey, a nationally representative birth cohort study that over sampled Asian Americans. Maternal depression symptomatology was assessed (by CESD) at the 9-month interview. Children's social-emotional status was assessed at the age 2 years interview, along with other developmental assessments. Mother's race/ethnicity, as well as the family-, neighborhood-, and community-level characteristics were recorded in each wave of the interview. Associations of these characteristics to early social-emotional development will be explored using structural equation models with weights.

Results: Preliminary analysis showed that high maternal depression symptomatology (CESD>=16) was reported in 4.3% of Asian mothers with a younger than 1 year old child (ranged from 3.2% in Chinese and 9.6% in Pilipino). Children's lower early social-emotional development scores were associated with higher maternal CESD scores (4.22 in mothers with CESD>=16 vs. 4.43 in mothers with CESD<16). However, diagnosis with major depression is a protective factor against lower mean children's social development scores (4.57 vs. 4.37 respectively). Demographic-, family-, and community- level variables will be added to the model.

Conclusion: Lack of intervention on maternal depression symptoms can have adverse impact on early child social-emotional development.