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Updated: Jul 9, 2026
06:39
Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants
Published on: June 13, 2021
Maternal depression, child behavior, and injury.
K Phelan1, J Khoury, H Atherton
1Division of Health Policy & Clinical Effectiveness, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3039, USA. kieran.phelan@cchmc.org
Summary
Maternal depression significantly increases child injury risk. While maternal depressive symptoms are linked to child behavior problems, these behaviors do not mediate the injury risk in this study.
Area of Science:
- Child Health
- Mental Health
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Limited data exists on maternal depression's impact on child injury.
- Understanding mediators like child behavior is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- Examine the link between maternal depressive symptoms and medically attended child injuries.
- Investigate child behavior as a potential mediator.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal cohort study (National Longitudinal Study of Youth, 1992-1994).
- Assessed maternal depressive symptoms (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale).
- Evaluated child behavior (Behavior Problems Index externalizing subscale) and injuries using logistic regression.
Main Results:
- Maternal depressive symptoms significantly elevated child injury risk (4% increase per point, OR 1.04).
- Maternal depression also increased child externalizing behaviors (OR 1.06).
- Child externalizing behaviors did not significantly mediate the maternal depression-child injury link.
Conclusions:
- Maternal depressive symptoms are associated with increased child injury risk.
- Child behavior did not mediate this association in the analyzed cohort.
- Addressing maternal depression may reduce child injury risk and improve behavior.
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