Psychosocial Predictors of Maternal Mental Health, Parenting Attitudes, and Child Behavior in Single-Parent Families.

Low-income, single mothers and their children constitute a rapidly growing population at risk for adverse health outcomes. The mental health of these women is particularly at risk. This study investigated tte prevalence of maternal depressive symptoms in low-income, single mothers of 1to 4-year-old children; identified psychosocial predictors of depressive symptoms among the women; and investigated effects of maternal psychosocial factors, depressive symptoms, and parenting attitudes on children's behavior. The sample consisted of 225 mothers recruited from health department clinics. In-home interviews were conducted to obtain data on the mothers' everyday stressors, coping strategies, social resources, depressive symptoms, and parenting attitudes, as well as the mothers' reports of the index children's. behavior. The prevalence of high depressive symptoms among tte women was 59.6 percent. Higher depressive symptoms were associated with greater everyday stressors, fewer social resources, and greater use of avoidance coping. Neither social resources nor coping strategies buffered the relationship between everyday stressors and depressive symptoms. Maternal depressive symptoms predicted parenting attitudes. Parenting Lttitudes, in turn, predicted child behavior. The results suggest that depr:! ssive symptoms are indirectly associated with mothers' reports of child behavior through their influence on parenting i:Lttitudes. (Author/ABL) ********* ************** * ********* *****r************ ************** * ***** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best ',let can be made from the original document. PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTORS OF MATERNAL MENTAL HEALTH, PARENTING ATTITUDES, AND CHILD BEHAVIOR IN SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES RUNNING HEAD: SINGLE-PARENT FAMILIES Lynne A. Hall, R.N. , Dr.P.H. , Diana N. Gurley, Ph.D., Barbara Sachs, Ph.D., R.N. , F.A. A.N. , and Richard J. Kryscio, Ph.D. Dr. Hall is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing and the Department of Behavioral Science, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. Dr. Gurley is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Psychiatric Epidemiology, Columbia University, New York, NY. Dr. Sachs is an Associate Professor, College of Nursing, University of Kentucky. Dr. Kryscio is a Professor, Department of Statistics and Director of the Statistics Consulting Laboratory and the Biostatistics Consulting Unit, University of Kentucky. Data for this study were collected under grant =1R01 NR01960-01 awarded to Drs. Hall and Sachs by the National Center for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health. The authors wish to express appreciation to Dr. Margaret R. Grier, Dr. Elizabeth R. Lenz, and Ms. Betsy Neale for constructive sugges-Aons on the manuscript and to Ms. Linda Mitchell for manuscript preparation. An earlier version of this manuscript was presented at the 117th Annual Convention of the American Public Health Association, Chicago, IL, October 1989. Address correspondence to Lynne A. Hall, R.N. , Dr.P.H. , 563 College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536-0232. U S DEPARTMENT Of EDUCATION Offce o EducaPpeal Research and improsement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) documenr Pas Deem reproduced as ecersed Nom the oeflOn Of ofgamsabon oonstmg r ',Amor Change, nave been made lo Nnorove reproduchon Quiets ePantsof,wmaopmonsswedmmscimu. mwitommftuummothcm CERI ocamon Of OCnCY 4.0 'PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY Ly no e_ A. BezlJ TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)"