Work

Early Head Start Services Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Child Development

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Maternal depression causes distress within a family system and can lead to poor social–emotional development among children if left unaddressed. Caregivers who experience economic distress are disproportionately affected, but early intervention programs, such as Early Head Start (EHS), have been shown to be effective at reducing maternal depressive symptoms and promoting children’s social–emotional health when families are highly engaged in services. However, less is known about longitudinal associations between family engagement in EHS services, maternal depressive symptoms, and children’s social–emotional development. The current study explores whether EHS service delivery type (home based or center based) influences within- and between-year linkages among family engagement, maternal depressive symptoms, and children’s social–emotional development across ages one to three ( n children at age 1 = 980, n caregivers = 690). Results indicate that greater family engagement in EHS services predicts lower caregiver depressive symptoms in subsequent years, regardless of service delivery type. Greater caregiver depressive symptoms may also predict lower engagement in subsequent years among home-based (but not center-based) families. There was some evidence that family engagement at age one predicts children’s social–emotional competence at age three through depressive symptoms at age two; however, this mediation effect did not vary as a function of EHS service type. Our findings suggest that promoting family engagement in EHS services can reduce maternal depressive symptoms over time.

Source: Infants & Young Children

DOI: 10.1097/iyc.0000000000000308

Authors: Kelsey L. Corallo, Russell A. Carleton, Margaret E. Major, Ann M. DiGirolamo

Institution: Georgia State University

Language: English

Topic: Early Childhood Education and Development

Subfield: Education

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Funder: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services