Impact of maternal common mental disorders on child educational outcomes at 7 and 9 years : a population-based cohort study in Ethiopia
Date
2018-01
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BMJ Publishing Group
Abstract
Objectives To examine the association between exposure
to maternal common mental disorders (CMD) in preschool
and early school age children and subsequent child
educational outcomes.
Design A population-based cohort study.
Setting The study was undertaken in the Butajira
health and demographic surveillance site (HDSS), a
predominantly rural area of south central Ethiopia.
Participants Inclusion criteria are women aged between
15 and 49 years, able to speak Amharic, in the third
trimester of pregnancy and resident of the HDSS. 1065
women were recruited between July 2005 and February
2006 and followed up. When the average age of children
was 6.5 years old, the cohort was expanded to include an
additional 1345 mothers and children who had been born
in the 12 months preceding and following the recruitment
of the original cohort, identified from the HDSS records.
Data from a total of 2090 mother–child dyads were
included in the current analysis.
Measures Maternal CMD was measured when the
children were 6–7 (6/7) and 7–8 (7/8) years old using
the Self-reporting Questionnaire, validated for the setting.
Educational outcomes (dropout) of the children at aged 7/8
years (end of 2013/2014 academic year) were obtained
from maternal report. At age 8/9 years (end of 2014/2015
academic year), educational outcomes (academic
achievement, absenteeism and dropout) of the children
were obtained from school records.
Results After adjusting for potential confounders,
exposure to maternal CMD at 7/8 years was associated
significantly with school dropout (OR 1.07; 95% CI 1.00
to 1.13, P=0.043) and absenteeism (incidence rate
ratio 1.01; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.02 P=0.026) at the end of
2014/2015 academic year. There was no association
between maternal CMD and child academic achievement.
Conclusion Future studies are needed to evaluate
whether interventions to improve maternal mental health
can reduce child school absenteeism and dropout.
Description
CITATION: Mekonnen, H. et al. 2018. Impact of maternal common mental disorders on child educational outcomes at 7 and 9 years: a population-based cohort study in Ethiopia. BMJ Open, 8(1):e018916, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018916.
The original publication is available at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/
The original publication is available at https://bmjopen.bmj.com/
Keywords
Common mental disorders -- CMD, South central Ethiopia, Preschool children, Early childhood, Child educational, Butajira Hospital, Mental health problems, Maternal common mental disorders, Child development
Citation
Mekonnen, H. et al. 2018. Impact of maternal common mental disorders on child educational outcomes at 7 and 9 years: a population-based cohort study in Ethiopia. BMJ Open, 8(1):e018916, doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018916.