TY - JOUR
T1 - The Covid-19 Pandemic and Maternal Mental Health
T2 - A Longitudinal Study of Chilean and Foreign-Born Mothers
AU - Abufhele, Alejandra
AU - Narea, Marigen
AU - Telias, Amanda
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors declare that this study was funded by Agencia Nacional de Investigacion y Desarrollo (ANID) PIA CIE160007. The funder was not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication. AA and AT also receive partial funding from the Center for Social Conflict and Cohesion Studies (grant ANID/FONDAP/15130009), and the Millennium Nucleus on Intergenerational Mobility: From Modelling to Policy (grant ANID/NCS2021072).
Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Abufhele, Narea and Telias.
PY - 2022/7/13
Y1 - 2022/7/13
N2 - Objectives: We explore the effects of the pandemic on stress, depressive symptoms and parenting practices of mothers with children aged between 24- and 30-months, residents in Santiago, Chile, and the differences between foreign‐born and native‐born mothers. Methods: Using data from the longitudinal project Mil Primeros Días and lagged-dependent models, we analyzed parental stress, depressive symptoms and parenting practices for native-born and foreign-born mothers. Lagged-dependent model allows us to take advantage of the longitudinal data by controlling for the previous score and baseline individual characteristics. Results: After 8 months of the pandemic, mothers of young children have more depressive symptoms, are more stressed, and show more hostility towards their children. Foreign-born mothers had 0.29 and 0.22 standard deviations (SD) more than native-born mothers in the parental distress and difficult child scales from the Parental Stress Index (PSI), respectively, and 0.17 SD more in the hostile-reactive parental behavior dimension. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need to implement policies and programs that prevent mental health deterioration for mothers, especially migrant mothers, to improve women’s psychological condition and child wellness.
AB - Objectives: We explore the effects of the pandemic on stress, depressive symptoms and parenting practices of mothers with children aged between 24- and 30-months, residents in Santiago, Chile, and the differences between foreign‐born and native‐born mothers. Methods: Using data from the longitudinal project Mil Primeros Días and lagged-dependent models, we analyzed parental stress, depressive symptoms and parenting practices for native-born and foreign-born mothers. Lagged-dependent model allows us to take advantage of the longitudinal data by controlling for the previous score and baseline individual characteristics. Results: After 8 months of the pandemic, mothers of young children have more depressive symptoms, are more stressed, and show more hostility towards their children. Foreign-born mothers had 0.29 and 0.22 standard deviations (SD) more than native-born mothers in the parental distress and difficult child scales from the Parental Stress Index (PSI), respectively, and 0.17 SD more in the hostile-reactive parental behavior dimension. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need to implement policies and programs that prevent mental health deterioration for mothers, especially migrant mothers, to improve women’s psychological condition and child wellness.
KW - COVID-19
KW - Chile
KW - longitudinal study
KW - maternal mental health
KW - parental stress
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85134906012&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604724
DO - 10.3389/ijph.2022.1604724
M3 - Article
C2 - 35910430
AN - SCOPUS:85134906012
SN - 1661-8556
VL - 67
JO - International Journal of Public Health
JF - International Journal of Public Health
M1 - 1604724
ER -