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1. Changes in Maternal Depression and Children’s Behavior Problems: Investigating the Role of COVID-19-Related Stressors, Hair Cortisol, and Dehydroepiandrosterone

   https://doi.org/21677026221076845  

   Doan, Stacey N. Ding (January 2022, Clinical psychological science)

   Few studies have used longitudinal approaches to consider the cumulative impact of COVID-19-related stressors (CRSs) on the psychological adjustment of mothers and children. In the current study, we tracked changes in maternal depressive symptoms and children’s behavioral problems from approximately 2 years before the pandemic (T1) to May through August 2020 (T2). Second, we explored maternal hair cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone as predictors of change in maternal depressive symptoms. Mothers (N = 120) reported on maternal and child psychological adjustment at both time points. Hair hormone data were collected in the lab at T1. Results suggest increases in children’s internalizing symptoms from T1 to T2 and that higher levels of CRSs were associated with increased maternal depressive symptoms. Maternal and child adjustment were correlated. Maternal hair cortisol, but not dehydroepiandrosterone, was associated with significant increases in depressive symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of considering the family system and cumulative risk exposure on maternal and child mental health. 

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2. Household Social Needs, Emotional Functioning, and Stress in Low-Income Latinx Children and their Mothers

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-023-02532-0  

   Keeton, Victoria F; Bell, Janice F; Drake, Christiana; Garcia, Erik_O_Fernandez y; Pantell, Matthew; Hessler, Danielle; Wing, Holly; Silveira, Patricia P; Donnell, Kieran_J O’; Filho, Euclides_José_de Mendonça; et al (March 2023, Journal of Child and Family Studies)

   Abstract Latinx families may be particularly vulnerable to emotional dysfunction, due to higher rates of economic hardship and complex social influences in this population. Little is known about the impact of environmental stressors such as unmet social needs and maternal stress on the emotional health of Latinx children from low-income families. We conducted secondary analyses using survey and biomarker data from 432 Latinx children and mothers collected in a separate study. We used binomial and multinomial logistic regression to test if household social needs, or maternal perceived stress or hair cortisol concentration (HCC), predicted child measures of emotional functioning or child HCC, independent of relevant sociodemographic factors. Approximately 40% of children in the sample had symptoms consistent with emotional dysfunction, and over 37% of households reported five or more social needs. High perceived maternal stress predicted higher odds of child emotional dysfunction (OR = 2.15; 95% CI [1.14, 4.04];p = 0.01), and high maternal HCC was positively associated with high child HCC (OR = 10.60; 95% CI [4.20, 26.74];p < 0.01). Most individual household social needs, as well as the level of household social need, were not independently associated with child emotional dysfunction or child HCC. Our findings begin to define a framework for understanding emotional health, stress, and resilience when caring for Latinx children and mothers living with high levels of social need, and the need for integrated mental health and social needs screening and interventions in settings that serve this population. 

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3. Developmental trajectories of internalizing distress among ethnic minoritized mothers following childbirth: Associations with early child psychological adjustment

   https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579422001031  

   Osornio, Alisha C; Lane, Sean P; Urizar, Guido G; Gonzalez, Araceli; Halim, May_Ling D (February 2024, Development and Psychopathology)

   Abstract A substantial body of work has established that mothers’ internalizing distress can negatively affect children’s socioemotional development. Yet few studies have examined how distinct patterns of mothers’ distress over time differentially impact child behaviors across early childhood. To address this gap, the current study explored developmental trajectories of mothers’ internalizing distress and examined the associations of these patterns with child adjustment outcomes. Mexican immigrant, Dominican immigrant, and African American mothers (N= 272) were annually assessed for internalizing distress over the first 6 years following childbirth. Children’s psychological adjustment (internalizing, externalizing, and hyperactivity behaviors) was measured at the last yearly assessment in first grade. A growth mixture model revealed two distinct classes of distress where mothers were classified as having low stable distress (82.4%) or moderate distress that began as stable then declined when their children were 64 months old (17.6%). Children of mothers in themoderate, late declineclass showed greater internalizing, externalizing, and hyperactivity behaviors in the first grade compared to children of mothers in thelow stableclass. Findings highlight the necessity of supporting the mental health of ethnic minoritized mothers following childbirth and further expand our knowledge of family psychopathology to promote healthy psychological adjustment in children. 

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4. Stress of Language Brokering and Mexican American Adolescents’ Adjustment: The Role of Cumulative Risk

   https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431619847526  

   Shen, Yishan; Seo, Eunjin; Walt, Dorothy Clare; Kim, Su Yeong (March 2020, The Journal of Early Adolescence)

   This study focused on early adolescents’ stress of language brokering and examined the moderating role of family cumulative risk in the relation of language brokering to adjustment problems. Data came from self-reports of 604 low-income Mexican American adolescent language brokers (54% female; [Formula: see text]= 12.4; SD = 0.97; 75% born in the United States) and their parents (99% foreign-born) in central Texas. Path analyses revealed that brokering stress, but not frequency, was positively associated with adolescents’ adjustment problems, including depressive symptoms, anxiety, and delinquency. We also found that the relation between stress of brokering for mothers and adolescents’ depressive symptoms was stronger among families with a high cumulative risk. Further, with a high cumulative risk, adolescents exhibited delinquent behaviors regardless of the levels of stress from translating for fathers. Current findings underscore the importance of examining family contexts in assessing the consequences of language brokering for Mexican American early adolescents’ well-being. 

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5. A longitudinal study of psychological distress in the United States before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

   Breslau, J.; Finucane, M.L.; Locker, A.R.; Baird, M.D.; Roth, E.A.; Collins, R.L. (February 2021, Preventive medicine)

   null (Ed.)

   The COVID-19 pandemic has caused financial stress and disrupted daily life more quickly than any prior economic downturn and on a scale beyond any prior natural disaster. This study aimed to assess the impact of the pandemic on psychological distress and identify vulnerable groups using longitudinal data to account for pre-pandemic mental health status. Clinically significant psychological distress was assessed with the Kessler-6 in a national probability sample of adults in the United States at two time points, February 2019 (T1) and May 2020 (T2). To identify increases in distress, psychological distress during the worst month of the past year at T1 was compared with psychological distress over the past 30-days at T2. Survey adjusted logistic regression was used to estimate associations of demographic characteristics at T1 (gender, age, race, and income) and census region at T2 with within-person increases in psychological distress. The past-month prevalence of serious psychological distress at T2 was as high as the past-year prevalence at T1 (10.9% vs. 10.2%). Psychological distress was strongly associated across assessments (X2(4) = 174.6, p < .0001). Increase in psychological distress above T1 was associated with gender, age, household income, and census region. Equal numbers of people experienced serious psychological distress in 30-days during the pandemic as did over an entire year prior to the pandemic. Mental health services and research efforts should be targeted to those with a history of mental health conditions and groups identified as at high risk for increases in distress above pre-pandemic levels. 

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