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

Myriam Clément1,2,3, Massimiliano Orri4, Marilyn N Ahun4

  • 1University of Quebec in Outaouais, Saint-Jerome, Quebec, Canada.

JAACAP Open
|September 9, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Parental postpartum depression (PPD) increases children's risk for mental health issues. This risk is amplified in low socioeconomic status (SES) families, particularly when both parents experience PPD.

Area of Science:

  • Child Psychology
  • Mental Health Research
  • Sociology

Background:

  • Parental postpartum depression (PPD) is a known risk factor for childhood mental health problems.
  • The interaction between PPD and family socioeconomic status (SES) on child mental health remains underexplored.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the interactive effect of family SES on the association between parental PPD and child mental health symptoms.
  • To examine PPD's impact across childhood and adolescence.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development.
  • Assessed maternal and paternal depressive symptoms using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.
  • Measured child internalizing/externalizing symptoms via the Social Behavior Questionnaire and Mental Health and Social Inadaptation Assessment for Adolescents.
  • Employed cross-classified 3-level mixed effects modeling to analyze associations.

Main Results:

  • Family SES moderated the link between parental PPD and child mental health symptoms.
  • In low SES families, both maternal and paternal PPD were associated with increased child mental health problems.
  • In average to high SES families, only maternal PPD showed a significant association with child mental health problems.

Conclusions:

  • Parental PPD significantly elevates the risk of mental health problems in children.
  • The impact of parental PPD on child mental health is more pronounced in low SES families, highlighting a critical vulnerability.
Abstract

Keywords:
externalizing problemsinternalizing problemsmaternal postpartum depressionpaternal postpartum depressionsocioeconomic status

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