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Behavior Problems Among Preschool Children Born to Adolescent Mothers: Effects of Maternal Depression and Perceptions of Partner Relationships

Date
2002Journal
Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent PsychologyPublisher
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc.Type
Article
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Show full item recordAbstract
Investigated how maternal depression influenced the relation between mothers'perceptions of the quality of their partner interactions and behavior problems among their preschool children. Participants included 194 low-income families from 4 sites. Approximately three fourths of the mothers (72%, n = 139) identified a male partner and comprised the analysis sample. Mothers were adolescents (?age 19) at delivery, and data were gathered when children were 4 to 5 years of age. In this high-risk sample, 42.4% of the children had been maltreated, 36% had externalizing scores in the clinical range, and 10.8% had internalizing scores in the clinical range. Multiple regression analyses revealed (a) maternal perceptions of negative partner interactions were associated with more internalizing behavior problems among the children, adjusting for the effects of maltreatment; (b) maternal depression mediated the relation between the maternal perceptions of the quality of partner interactions and children 's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems; and (c) maternal perceptions of positive partner interactions did not protect children from internalizing or externalizing behavior problems associated with maltreatment. Programs for adolescent mothers should provide screening and treatment for depressive symptoms and help partners negotiate caregiving roles and mutually satisfying relationships.Sponsors
This research was supported by Grants 90CA1568, 90CA1569, and 90CA1572 from the Children�s Bureau, Office on Child Abuse and Neglect, Administration for Children, Youth, and Families; Grants 90CA1401, 90CA1433, and 9�CA1467 from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect; and Grants MCJ�240568 and MCJ�240621 from the Maternal and Child Health Research Program, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Identifier to cite or link to this item
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85047686928&doi=10.1207%2fS15374424JCCP3101_04&partnerID=40&md5=cb9300e944de67fe2d09d86e4f4bef33; http://hdl.handle.net/10713/11910ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1207/S15374424JCCP3101_04
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