Authors:

SMITH, T, ASTLE, D., KIEVIT, R.

Reference:

Year of publication:

2022

CBU number:

8817

Abstract:

The impact of socioeconomic status (SES) on early child development is well established, but the mediating role of parental mental health is poorly understood. Data were obtained from The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC; n = 13,855), including measures of early SES (age 8 months), key aspects of development during mid-late childhood (ages 7-8 years), and maternal mental health during early childhood (ages 0-3 years). In the first year of life, better maternal mental health was shown to weaken the negative association between SES and child mental health. Better maternal mental health was additionally shown to weaken the association between SES and child cognitive ability. These findings highlight the variability and complexity of the mediating role of parental mental health on child development. They further emphasise the importance of proximal factors in the first year of life, such as parental mental health, in mediating key developmental outcomes. Further information regarding accessing ALSPAC data can be found at https://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/researchers/our-data/. A preprint of this manuscript was made available on PsyArXiv Preprints, and can be accessed via the following link: https://psyarxiv.com/4swy8/

URL: