Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms?

Santelices, María Pía; Irarrázaval, Matías; Jervis, Pamela; Brotfeld, Cristian; Cisterna, Carla; Gallardo, Ana María

doi:10.3390/children8090816

Open AccessArticle

Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms?

by

María Pía Santelices

^1,*,

Matías Irarrázaval

²,

Pamela Jervis

³,

Cristian Brotfeld

¹,

Carla Cisterna

² and

Ana María Gallardo

¹

School of Psychology, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile

²

School of Medicine, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 8330015, Chile

³

Universidad de Chile, Institute for Fiscal Studies and Center for Research in Inclusive Education, 8330015 Santiago, Chile

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Children 2021, 8(9), 816; https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090816

Submission received: 30 July 2021 / Revised: 8 September 2021 / Accepted: 9 September 2021 / Published: 16 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Collection Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children and Adolescents: Assessment and Intervention)

Download

Browse Figures

Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

(1) Background: Maternal stress and depression are considered risk factors in children’s socioemotional development, also showing high prevalence worldwide. (2) Method: Participants correspond to a longitudinal sample of 6335 mother/child pairs (18–72 months), who were surveyed in 2010 and then in 2012. The hypothesis was tested with SEM analysis, setting the child’s internalized/externalized problems as dependent variable, maternal depression as independent variable, and stress as a partial mediator. (3) Results: Both depression during pregnancy and recent depression has not only a direct effect on the internalizing and externalizing symptomatology of the child, but also an indirect effect through parental stress. Significant direct and indirect relationships were found. (4) Conclusions: Maternal depression and the presence of parental stress can influence children’s behavioral problems, both internalizing and externalizing.

Keywords: maternal depression; parental stress; behavioral problems

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Santelices, M.P.; Irarrázaval, M.; Jervis, P.; Brotfeld, C.; Cisterna, C.; Gallardo, A.M. Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms? Children 2021, 8, 816. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090816

AMA Style

Santelices MP, Irarrázaval M, Jervis P, Brotfeld C, Cisterna C, Gallardo AM. Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms? Children. 2021; 8(9):816. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090816

Chicago/Turabian Style

Santelices, María Pía, Matías Irarrázaval, Pamela Jervis, Cristian Brotfeld, Carla Cisterna, and Ana María Gallardo. 2021. "Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms?" Children 8, no. 9: 816. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090816

APA Style

Santelices, M. P., Irarrázaval, M., Jervis, P., Brotfeld, C., Cisterna, C., & Gallardo, A. M. (2021). Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms? Children, 8(9), 816. https://doi.org/10.3390/children8090816

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Does Maternal Mental Health and Maternal Stress Affect Preschoolers’ Behavioral Symptoms?

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI