Critique of: Effects of Poverty and Maternal
Depression on Early Child Development
Kean University
By Casey Loalbo
Introduction
Researchers have always been interested in the effects of poverty on early childhood
development. The reviewed article builds on this work by focusing on the mediating effect
of maternal depression in conjunction with poverty on early childhood development. The
issue of the effects of poverty on early childhood development is one that directly link to
one of Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development, trust versus mistrust. During this
stage, which occurs between birth and one year of age, Erikson believes infants develop
their sense of trust because of how dependent they are on others for survival. If a child
successfully develops trust, he or she will feel safe and secure. Caregivers who are
inconsistent, emotionally unavailable, or rejecting contribute to feelings of mistrust in the
children they care for. Failure to develop trust will result in fear and a belief that the world
is inconsistent and unpredictable.
For a poverty-stricken family, inconsistency in terms of what they are able to provide
is common. Children from poor families may not always be fed, or may be fed lesser
amounts based on the family’s financial situation at any given time. For this reason, this
topic is extremely important as we explore the aspects of early childhood development. It
is important to pay special attention to the results of poverty and other mediating factors
on early childhood development.
Summary of Empirical Article
The Article’s Theoretical Assumptions
The article reviewed came from the theoretical standpoint that nurture overrides
nature. The article presented research that indicated that the effects of poverty on
children’s cognitive development are profound when compared to advantaged children’s
cognitive development. The research the article highlights suggests that the disadvantaged
environment that the child lives in contributes to the cognitive and social and object
deficits. In addition to the existence of poverty, maternal depression also contributes to
these deficits. Economically distressed mothers are more likely to experience a
psychological illness than their advantaged counterparts. High levels of depression among
poor mothers are concerning because maternal depression is associated with several
negative outcomes in infancy including language and cognitive problems. Infants of
depressed mothers have difficulty engaging in social and object interactions as early as 2
months of age. In terms of nurture, a depressed woman’s maternal behavior is less
responsive, more helpless, hostile, critical, alternatively disengaged, or intrusive,
disorganized and less active, avoidant of confrontation and generally less competent. This
environment yields negative outcomes in terms of early childhood development. The
article revealed that poor parents who reported high stress were less happy and less
involved in the activities of their preschool and adolescent children. Highly depressed
mothers yelled and hit their children more frequently and relied less on reasoning and loss
of privileges when disciplining them. Economic stress indirectly influenced adolescents
through parental disruptions in mood and behavior.
Empirical Literature Reviewed in the Article
The article was also concerned with the extent to which the relations between
poverty, maternal depression, and child development varied by gender, birthweight, and
gender/ethnicity. According to the article, sociofamilial stress is more strongly associated
with externalizing behaviors for boys than girls. Boys were more susceptible to parental
psychopathology, family issues and marital problems than were girls. Boys were more
vulnerable than girls to the effects of biological and caregiving deficits in childhood. Boys
with mothers with higher levels of depression were more likely to have poorer social
competence and more behavior problems than girls. Because of this, boys’ aversive
behaviors may be particularly hard to deal with for depressed mothers making it more likely
that they will reinforce their son’s bad behavior.
The study also examined differences in race and ethnicity. Black or Hispanic children
are more likely to experience persistent poverty than White children. As a result of this
finding, Black and Hispanic children are at a higher risk than White children for experiencing
developmental and socioemotional problems. For example, Black children do not perform
as well as White children on cognitive tests such as intelligence and ability tests. The
differences in test scores between Black and White children are usually anywhere from .751 SD. This discrepancy can be due to a variety of factors including poverty, family structure,
parenting practices and residential segregation. Ultimately, minority status may increase
the risk of developmental delay associated with income.
Another area examined was low birthweight. Perinatal problems were associated
with low IQ scores at age 2 years in low-SES families compared to those with higher SES.
LBW children in high risk social environments fared worse than similar normal birthweight
children. Studies found that house ownership, maternal education level, and number of
social service benefits were associated with lower cognitive scores.
Purpose of the Study and Hypotheses
The purpose of this study was to examine the independent and interaction effects of
poverty and maternal depression on young children’s development. In the article, five
major questions were addressed. The first question addressed was “Are poverty and
maternal depression associated with the development of young children, controlling for
cofactors such as race/ethnicity, mother’s education, and family structure.” The
researchers expected both risk factors to be associated with early child development. The
second question that was examined was “Are the negative consequences of maternal
depression buffered for children living in wealthier families? That is, what are the
interaction effects of maternal depression and poverty?” The researcher expected the
effects or maternal depression to be more severe for poor than non-poor families, given the
possible buffering or protective role of greater income. The third question that was
investigated was “What are the effects of change in both maternal depression and poverty
status on early development?” The researchers predicted that long-term depression and
poverty would have greater effects than short-term depression and poverty. The fourth
question the researchers were interested in answering was “Are there differences in the
impact of poverty and maternal depression on cognitive and motor development?” The
researchers expected that both poverty and maternal depression would have a larger effect
on cognitive than motor development. The final question investigated was “Do these
hypothesized relations among maternal depression, poverty and early child development
differ by children’s gender, birthweight, and race/ethnicity?” Given the limited prior
studies in this area, the researchers did not have prior expectations.
Description of Research Design and Method
The article presented a longitudinal study. The data used in the study was from the
1988 National Maternal and Infant Health Survey. The NMIHS is a nationally representative
sample of women who had a pregnancy in 1988 and a follow up survey in 1991. The
researchers used an abbreviated version of the Denver Developmental Screening Test
(DDST) which is a popular survey used in primary health-care settings in the developmental
surveillance of high-risk children.
The study’s sample was selected based on several criteria. Of the 8,285 mothers
interviewed, cases in which the child did not live with their biological mother, or cases
where someone other than their biological interview attended the follow up interview,
were excluded. Participants were asked 2 questions regarding their household income.
They were also asked whether or not their focal child new their age and gender. The DDST
is a short, easily administered screening device designed for the early identification of
behavioral and/or developmental problems in children 2 weeks to 6 years of age. It covers
4 areas of development including personal social, fine motor adaptive, language, and gross
motor development. Maternal depression was assessed using the Center for
Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. The CED-D score is based on responses to 20
items.
Based on the mother’s answers to the income questions, answers to the questions
about their children’s knowledge of age and gender, and the children’s results on the DDST,
and the mothers’ results of the CED-D statistics were combined and analyzed.
Results
The findings of this study revealed considerable differences between poor and
nonpoor children across the development items and summary measures. Poverty was
negatively associated with cognitive development. Poor children had higher scores on the
items measuring motor skills. Poor children were significantly more likely than nonpoor
children to dress themselves, to be toilet trained, and to pedal a tricycle. However, they
were also less likely to walk up stairs by themselves or to have done somersaults.
Maternal depression was significantly associated with each measure of child
development. The DDST scores of boys with nondepressed mothers were .12SD higher than
those with mothers with symptoms of moderate depression. Maternal depression
significantly reduced the scores of girls. Maternal depression also had an adverse effect on
cognitive and motor development. For girls, maternal depression had a greater impact on
cognitive than motor development. The effect of income also varied across measures of
child development and across gender. Specifically there was a stronger association
between income and cognitive development than between income and motor
development.
Overall, results indicated that maternal depression and poverty jeopardize the
development of very young boys and girls. In most cases, affluence buffers the
consequences of depression on early child development. Chronic maternal depression was
found to have severe consequences for both boys and girls, and persistent poverty had a
strong effect on the development of girls. The various measures of poverty and maternal
depression had a greater impact on measures of cognitive development than motor
development.
Critique of Article Reviewed
Hypotheses Support
The findings of this article supported the hypotheses of the researchers.
Validity of Findings
The instruments used in the study, including the DDST and the CED-D, each had
reliability and validity between 81-100%. These instruments were very appropriate for the
tasks they were used to accomplish.
Evaluation of Design and Method
It would be interesting to see the outcome of a similar study that used its own
sample often mother-child pairs rather than a preexisting sample. This would allow
researchers to have even more of a varied sample without having to exclude certain
participants. It would also be interesting to see the outcome of a similar study that used
instruments other than the DDST and the CED-D.
Topically Relevant Variable Studied
The authors of this article were extremely thorough in terms of including issues such
as gender, ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, parenting styles, and schooling.
Topically Relevant Research References
This article also made sure to take into account that major reference in this area of
study (effects of poverty and/or maternal depression on early child development).
Significance of Study
The findings of this article are significant because they not only show the extent to
which a developmental gap exists between poor and nonpoor children but also because
they show specifically where these differences are most profound. The findings of this
article could also be used to create parent trainings and to education parents with
depression or other mental illnesses to seek treatment. This is important because of the
influence maternal depression has on children.
Your View on the Theoretical Implications of the Findings
The findings of this study confirmed the researchers’ hypotheses that the
environmental results of a depressed mother and poverty on a child result in cognitive and
motor deficits for both girls and boys. In other words, the findings of this article support
the perspective of the authors which stress the influence of nurture more so than nature.
These finding will certainly benefit the field of child development by allowing those
interested to become more aware of the far-reaching effect of poverty, maternal
depression, and the combination of these two constructs on early child development.
Your View on the Practical Implications of Findings
The findings of this article will benefit several individuals in various fields of study.
Parents who suffer from mental illness will be able to link the importance of getting
treatment to their young children’s development. Teachers can use the findings of this
study to investigate the different learning styles of poor and nonpoor children. These
finding are especially important for counselors who will be servicing the depressed mothers
mentioned in this study as well as their children and families. As a result of this study, it is
possible that new instruments can be created for the purpose of assessing and evaluating
the effects of poverty and maternal depression on early childhood development.
Conclusion
The findings of this article helped me to realize the severity of the developmental
differential between children from different socioeconomic backgrounds. Prior to reading
this article, I had very limited knowledge about the influences of poverty and maternal
depression on early child development. The subject matter of this article is very relevant to
my field of study, counseling. Reading and critiquing this article has helped me become
better able to understand the issues and concerns of not only underprivileged families but
also families who have a family member that suffers from depression (or a combination of
the two).