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. 2013 Jan;162(1):189-94.e1.
doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.06.047. Epub 2012 Aug 4.

Markers of maternal depressive symptoms in an urban pediatric clinic

Jan Harold D Sia  1 , John M Leventhal, Veronika S Northrup, Wirongrong Arunyanart, Carol C Weitzman
Affiliations

Markers of maternal depressive symptoms in an urban pediatric clinic

Jan Harold D Sia et al. J Pediatr. 2013 Jan.

Abstract

Objective: To identify markers of maternal depressive symptoms in medical records of children aged 1-6 years.

Study design: Using a case-control methodology, mothers who were screened for depressive symptoms with the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology Self-Rated Questionnaire (QIDS-SR) at well-child visits between June 2006 and June 2008 in an inner-city pediatric clinic were grouped into cases with depressive symptoms (QIDS-SR score ≥ 11) and controls with no symptoms (QIDS-SR score ≤ 5). Potential markers for maternal depressive symptoms were collected from the children's medical record and grouped into 3 domains: (1) child health and development (eg, maternal concerns/negative attributions regarding the child's behavior); (2) child health care utilization (eg, missed appointments); and (3) maternal psychosocial factors (eg, single parent). The association between maternal depressive symptoms and each factor was determined using multiple logistic regression to calculate aORs.

Results: Maternal depressive symptoms were significantly associated with reports of concerns/negative attributions about the child's behavior (aOR, 2.35; P = .01) and concerns about speech (aOR, 2.40; P = .04) and sleep (aOR, 7.75; P < .001); these were identified at the visit when the depression screening was done. Other associations included history of maternal depression (aOR, 4.94; P = .001) and a previous social work referral (aOR, 1.98; P = .01).

Conclusion: Information readily available to pediatricians was associated with maternal depressive symptoms and can serve as clinical markers to help identify at-risk mothers during well-child visits.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1
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