Parental Postpartum Depression and Children’s Socioemotional Development: The Role of Socioeconomic Inequality

Abstract

Objective

Parental postpartum depression (PPD) is a documented risk factor for mental health problems in childhood, but little is known about its interplay with family socioeconomic status (SES). This study tested the interactive effect of SES in the associations of PPD with mental health symptoms in children from infancy to adolescence.

Method

Data used for this study were from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development. Data included self-reported maternal and paternal depressive symptoms at 5 months postpartum, using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Parents, teachers, and children/adolescents reported internalizing/externalizing symptoms in children/adolescents using the Social Behavior Questionnaire (ages 3.5-13 years) and the Mental Health and Social Inadaptation Assessment for Adolescents (ages 15-17 years). Mothers reported SES at baseline. Cross-classified 3-level mixed effects modeling was used to test associations.

Results

After excluding 168 single-parent families, the sample consisted of 1,899 families with usable data. Of these, 314 (16.5%) families reported maternal PPD, and 151 (8.0%) reported paternal PPD. Family SES moderated the association between PPD in both parents and mental health symptoms in children. In low SES families, paternal PDD (β = .27, 95% CI 0.10-0.45, p = .003) and maternal PPD (β = .38, 95% CI 0.25-0.50, p < .001) were associated with greater child mental health problems in children, whereas this was the case only for maternal PPD in average or high SES families (β = 0.20, 95% CI 0.10-0.29, p < .001).

Conclusion

PPD in both parents increases the risk of mental health problems in children, with a greater effect in low SES families.

Plain language summary

This study explored how parental postpartum depression (PPD) and family socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with children's mental health from infancy to adolescence. Using data drawn from the Québec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, the study found that in families with low SES, both maternal and paternal PPD were linked to more significant mental health issues in children. In contrast, in families with average or high SES, only maternal PPD was associated with children's mental health problems. Given the interactions between SES and PPD in pediatric mental health, the authors propose that interventions supporting parents in low SES families might be most helpful in promoting children's mental health and reducing socioeconomic inequalities.