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. 2021 May 13;8(5):387.
doi: 10.3390/children8050387.

Depressive Symptomatology and Parenting Stress: Influence on the Social-Emotional Development of Pre-Schoolers in Chile

María Pía Santelices  1 , Francisca Tagle  1 , Nina Immel  1
Affiliations

Depressive Symptomatology and Parenting Stress: Influence on the Social-Emotional Development of Pre-Schoolers in Chile

María Pía Santelices et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

(1) Background: The preschool stage is a period of great psychological changes that requires the support of parents and significant adults for optimal development. Studies show that maternal mental health can be a risk factor in parenting, affecting the social-emotional development of children. (2) Methods: The present study seeks to shed light on the relation between depressive symptoms, parental stress in mothers and social-emotional development of their preschool children, using a total of 123 mother-child dyads with low Social-economic Status (SES). In mothers, depressive symptomatology and level of parental stress were evaluated, as well as social-emotional development in children. A possible mediation effect between maternal depressive symptoms and parenting stress is expected. (3) Results: The results indicate that higher levels of depressive symptoms and parenting stress in mothers relate to greater difficulties in social-emotional development of their preschool children. (4) Conclusions: These results are clinically relevant from the perspective of family therapy: Parents need support to decrease their levels of parenting stress in order not to jeopardise their children's social-emotional development.

Keywords: maternal mental health; parenting stress; pre-schoolers; social-emotional development.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest and the funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

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