1. Objectifs

Intentions :
«This study aims to extend the knowledge on the associations between MDS [maternal depressive symptoms] and several measures of children’s cognitive development including academic readiness and language development in kindergarten and reading and mathematics achievement in first grade.» (p. 2)

Questions/Hypothèses :
The authors «hypothesized that MDS would be negatively associated with children’s cognitive development, and that childcare attendance would modify these associations. More specifically, [the authors] expected that associations between MDS and children’s cognitive development outcomes would be less pronounced for children who attended formal childcare during the early childhood years compared to those remaining at home during this period.» (p. 4)

2. Méthode

Échantillon/Matériau :
«This study was conducted within the context of the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD) led by the Institut de la statistique du Québec.» (p. 4) The sample included 1364 mother-child dyads.

Type de traitement des données :
Analyse statistique

3. Résumé

The authors found that «[c]ontrary to [their] expectations, [they] found that attending formal or informal childcare did not moderate associations between MDS and children’s cognitive outcomes at school entry.» (p. 13) Also, they «found that MDS averaged over the early childhood years were negatively associated with children’s language development in kindergarten, and reading and mathematics achievement in first grade, effect sizes were small. Further, results failed to reach statistical significance once analyses were adjusted for confounding variables. [The] finding of small effect sizes between MDS and children’s cognitive development is consistent with some previous studies […]. Maternal education as well as the child’s age in kindergarten and the number of months of schooling in first grade at the time of test administration were among those variables more strongly associated with child cognitive development. Attending school has previously been associated with gains in reading and mathematics performance and more specifically in the early years of primary school[.]» (p. 14) «Overall, [the] findings indicate that factors such as maternal education, children’s age and the number of months of formal schooling at the time of outcome assessment, better explain children’s academic readiness and achievement at school entry than the average MDS score from 5 months to 5 years.» (p. 15)