Advisory Committee Chair
Robin Gaines Lanzi
Advisory Committee Members
Jennifer Burke Lefever
Kristi Carter Guest
Retta Evans
Connie Kohler
Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
2013
Degree Name by School
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) School of Public Health
Abstract
Maternal depressive symptoms have been associated with deficits in parenting practices that protect children from injuries; however, few studies have been conducted to examine these relationships. Using data from a multisite longitudinal study of 252 first-time mothers, the relationships between the use of safe parenting practices and maternal depressive symptoms was examined, taking into account mother's resources (as defined by age and education level) and race at five time points during the first 3 years of the child's life. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory. Measures of maternal depressive symptoms, safe parenting practices (use of car seat, child abuse potential, smoking, and alcohol use) and occurrence of child injuries requiring medical attention were assessed at multiple time points. The study sample included adolescent (49.6%), low resource adult (25.4%), and high resource adult mothers (25.0%). The majority of mothers were African American (57.5%), and the remainder of mothers was Caucasian (23.4%), Hispanic/Latina (16.3%) or identified as "other" (2.8%) race/ethnicity. Using univariate and multivariate analyses, depressive symptom status, mother resource group, and race were used to predict safety practices at concurrent time points. Adolescent mothers and low resource adult mothers reported more chronic depression compared to high resource adult mothers. Adolescent mothers reported unsafe car seat practices more often than adult mothers, and minority mothers reported unsafe car seat practices more often than Caucasian mothers. Mothers who reported moderate/severe depressive symptoms had higher child abuse potential scores than mothers who reported minimal/mild depressive symptoms. African American mothers reported higher child abuse potential scores compared to Caucasian and Hispanic mothers. Caucasian adolescent mothers reported the highest smoking rates over time compared to African American and Hispanic mothers. Results of this study suggest that the age, education level, race, and depressive status of the mother all influence the use of safe car seat practices. Furthermore, depressive status is an important factor associated with occurrence of child injuries and child abuse potential. Collectively, these findings suggest the need for public health intervention in the provision of mental health services and adolescent pregnancy prevention.
Recommended Citation
Baumann, Angela Warren, "The Relationship Of Maternal Depressive Symptoms Among First Time Adolescent And Adult Mothers And Their Safe Parenting Practices And Child Injuries" (2013). All ETDs from UAB. 1124.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/1124
