The stronger foundation we provide children when they are young, the more healthy and successful they will be as adults. Since social and emotional development is a cornerstone of this foundation, I was very excited to write a
policy paper that looks at policies and programs effective in promoting social and emotional development in young children. These policies all represent good, smart investments Texas can make, not only for children and families, but our entire state.
One issue mentioned only briefly in the policy paper, maternal depression, can have a strong impact on young children's development. A young child's social and emotional wellbeing develops in the context of relationships; often, the primary relationship is mother-child. So what happens to the child when that mother experiences depression? A
working paper from Harvard University found that 10-20% of mothers will be depressed at some time during their lives, and about 10% of infants will have mothers who experience major depression. That figure is even higher for families experiencing multiple hardships, such as struggling to pay the rent or buy groceries, dealing with other health issues, or living in an unsafe community.
When raised by a chronically depressed mother, children are at higher risk for a host of problems, some long-lasting. Studies have even shown children of depressed mothers have similar patterns of brain activity as adults with depression. Wow.
The good news is that effective interventions are available to help mothers deal with their depression. More good news is that when those interventions are combined with strategies to address the mother-child relationship, children's development also improves. The flip side, unfortunately, is that treatment that addresses only the mother's depressive symptoms and leaves out the child often has little impact on the child's wellbeing.
What does this mean? For starters, we need to do a better job of identifying and treating maternal depression and other mental health issues in parents, knowing it's not just the parent's mental health and wellbeing at stake. Then we need to make sure that, when mental health professionals treat a parent, the parent-child relationship is integrated into the treatment and that addressing the child's wellbeing is part of the goal.
The impact of parents' mental health on kids isn't something I hear often in discussions about children's mental health, but I hope it's a conversation that gets explored more. It's just one more way we can help Texas Put Kids 1st.
