Maternal depressive symptoms, parenting self-efficacy, and child growth.
OBJECTIVE
We assessed whether maternal depressive symptoms and parenting self-efficacy were associated with child growth delay.


METHODS
We collected data from a random sample of 595 low-income mothers and their children aged 6 to 24 months in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil, including information on sociodemographic characteristics, mothers' depressive symptoms and parenting self-efficacy, and children's anthropometric characteristics. We used adjusted logistic regression models in our analyses.


RESULTS
Depressive symptoms among mothers were associated with 1.8 times higher odds (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.1, 2.9) of short stature among children. Parenting self-efficacy was not associated with short stature, nor did it mediate or modify the relationship between depressive symptoms and short stature. Maternal depressive symptoms and self-efficacy were not related to child underweight.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that among low-income Brazilian families maternal depressive symptoms, but not self-efficacy, were associated with short stature in children aged 6 to 24 months after adjustment for known predictors of growth.
Harvard School of Public Health, Landmark Center, 401 Park Dr, 4th Floor West, Room 415, Boston, MA 02215, USA. psurkan@hsph.harvard.edu
Pamela J
PJ
Surkan
Ichiro
I
Kawachi
Louise M
LM
Ryan
Lisa F
LF
Berkman
Lina M
LM
Carvalho Vieira
Karen E
KE
Peterson
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology*; D011204:Poverty Areas; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013851:Thinness / Q000453:epidemiology