Work

Prospective Relationship between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Asthma Morbidity among Inner-City African American Children

Year: 2009

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To examine prospective relationships between caregiver's depressive symptoms and child asthma morbidity among inner-city African American families. METHODS: Phone surveys were conducted 6 months apart with 262 African American mothers of children with asthma. Cross-lagged structural path analysis was used for data analyses. RESULTS: Using goodness-of-fit indices, the final model for asthma symptoms had a good fit to the data. Time 1 (T1) maternal depressive symptoms predicted T2 child asthma symptoms (beta =.16, p <.01); however, T1 asthma symptoms did not predict T2 maternal depressive symptoms (beta =.03, non-significant). In contrast, in the final model for emergency department (ED) visits there was no predictive association between maternal depressive symptoms and ED visits. CONCLUSION: Maternal depressive symptoms may have a detrimental effect on child asthma morbidity among inner-city African American families, rather than vice versa. Ameliorating maternal depressive symptoms may result in better asthma outcomes for inner-city children.

Source: Journal of Pediatric Psychology

DOI: 10.1093/jpepsy/jsp091

Authors: M. Otsuki, M. N. Eakin, L. L. Arceneaux, C. S. Rand, A. M. Butz, K. A. Riekert

Institutions: University of South Florida, Johns Hopkins University, University of South Florida St. Petersburg

Language: English

Topic: Asthma and respiratory diseases

Subfield: Physiology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute