title: Maternal low- and high-depressive symptoms and safety concerns for low-income preschool children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Our objective was to examine the relationship between low- and high-level depressive symptoms in mothers' and children's risks in the areas of home and car safety, monitoring, and exposure to violence.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants included 978 mothers of preschool-age children who were interviewed about their home environment and screened for maternal depression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Whereas only 5.7% scored at high depressive levels on the screen, another 21.3% scored at low depressive levels. Logistic regression analyses controlling for demographics revealed that children were significantly more likely to experience home safety risks in 6 of 7 areas when mothers reported either low or high levels of depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that children whose mothers experience even low-level depressive symptoms are at increased risk for safety problems in the home environment, pointing to the need for screening and interventions to reduce the risk of injury.
authors: University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. burrowna@uams.edu
authors: Nicola A
authors: NA
authors: Conners-Burrow
authors: Jill J
authors: JJ
authors: Fussell
authors: Danya L
authors: DL
authors: Johnson
authors: Lorraine M
authors: LM
authors: McKelvey
authors: Leanne
authors: L
authors: Whiteside-Mansell
authors: Patti
authors: P
authors: Bokony
authors: Shashank
authors: S
authors: Kraleti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis*; D018479:Early Intervention, Educational; D005260:Female; D006792:House Calls; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011203:Poverty / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D012449:Safety / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data