1. Objectifs

Intentions :
The authors test «the association between timing and chronicity of MDS [maternal depression symptoms] exposure and children’s verbal abilities using a population-based cohort study.» (p. 251)

Questions/Hypothèses :
«We hypothesized that (1) children exposed to early MDS would have lower scores on a test of verbal abilities compared with children exposed later during early childhood and that, (2) children exposed to elevated MDS over a longer period of time would have lower scores on this measure than children exposed for shorter periods.» (p. 251-252)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«Data were drawn from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development […]. Participants were recruited via the Quebec Birth Registry using a stratified procedure based on living area and birth rate. The initial sample included n=2120 infants born in Quebec in 1997-1998. Our analysis sample included n=1073 mother-child pairs […].» (p. 252)

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

«In our population-based birth cohort (n=1073), 37.8% of mothers reported elevated MDS (eg, experiencing few symptoms a lot of the time or many symptoms at least some of the time over the past week) at least once during the first 5 years of the target child’s life. However, only children exposed to chronic MDS had significantly lower verbal abilities during middle childhood (ages 5-10 years). Specifically, children exposed chronically had lower scores than those never exposed and those exposed early or late. […] Maternal verbal IQ [intelligence quotient] and native language, as well as family SES, were the main predictors of children’s verbal abilities […].These results illustrate that multiple family factors are involved in the long-term development of verbal abilities and points to the importance of addressing the wider psychosocial environments of families affected by MDS in interventions.» (p. 254-255)