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The Relationship Between Maternal Depression, Externalizing and Internalizing Problems in Children, and Caregiving Burden in Urban Low-Income Ethnic and Racial Minority Families

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Abstract

A strong relationship exists between maternal depression and externalizing and internalizing problems in children, and caregiving burden might mediate this relationship. Yet, caregiving burden has rarely been tested as a mechanism underlying the relationship between maternal depression and child emotional and behavioral outcomes. Caregiving burden might be especially high in ethnic and racial minority mother–child dyads in low-income settings where there are more stressors in the environment and rates of maternal depression are elevated. A path analysis with 132 low-income urban mothers who mostly identified as racial and ethnic minorities confirmed our hypothesis that maternal depression has a direct effect on child externalizing and internalizing problems, and also an indirect effect through caregiving burden. We discuss implications of the findings with respect to research, practice, and policy with low-income, ethnic and racial minority families whose mothers have depression and care for children who exhibit externalizing and internalizing problems.

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Acknowledgements

The project described was supported by Grants from the National Institute of Mental Health: MH-58384 to Dr. Anne Riley and MH-56864 to Dr. Jeanne Miranda.

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  1. Department of Population Health, Dell Medical School, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, 1701 Trinity Street, Austin, TX, 78712, USA

    Kevin M. Wagner & Carmen R. Valdez

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Wagner, K.M., Valdez, C.R. The Relationship Between Maternal Depression, Externalizing and Internalizing Problems in Children, and Caregiving Burden in Urban Low-Income Ethnic and Racial Minority Families. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 51, 390–398 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-019-00950-0

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