Small measures can be a big help for children of mothers with depression


Date:
December 20, 2021
Source:
Uppsala University
Summary:
Several new studies among Syrian refugee families in Turkey and
families with infants in Sweden and Bhutan show that children
of mothers in poor mental health risk falling behind in their
cognitive development.

However, very small changes can suffice to break this correlation
and enable the children to return to their normal developmental
level. Having plenty of people around them and an available
community are two of the most important factors for helping
children, in all three countries.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Several new studies among Syrian refugee families in Turkey and families
with infants in Sweden and Bhutan show that children of mothers in poor
mental health risk falling behind in their cognitive development. However,
very small changes can suffice to break this correlation and enable the children to return to their normal developmental level. Having plenty
of people around them and an available community are two of the most
important factors for helping children, in all three countries.


==========================================================================
"If you improve the mental health of mothers by four per cent, the child
wins an entire year in their cognitive development, in statistical
terms. Small measures, in other words, can make a big difference in
supporting the next generation," says Gustaf Gredeba"ck, Professor
of Developmental Psychology at Uppsala University and Director of the
Uppsala Child and Baby Lab, which led the studies.

The research was done through interviews and experimental studies onsite
in Bhutan, Turkey and Sweden. In Sweden and Bhutan, 120 families with
9-10 month- old infants participated. In Turkey, 100 families who had
fled from Aleppo in Syria participated in the study. They have children
between the ages of 6 and 18. In Sweden, families with small children
were the primary participants in the research conducted by Uppsala Child
and Baby Lab. In Bhutan, the material was collected in collaboration with
the Faculty of Nursing and Public Health and Khesar Gyalpo University of Medical Sciences of Bhutan. In Turkey, the studies were done with the
help of researchers from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research
at Uppsala University.

A common finding for the families in all three countries was that several
of the children's cognitive abilities were impacted by the mental health
of their mothers, regardless of whether they were a refugee family in
Syria or the family was in a safe environment in Sweden. The child's intelligence did not seem to have been affected; rather, it was the
child's attentiveness, social understanding and ability to make decisions
that were adversely affected.

Individual conditions around the mother can make the situation worse. The impact on the child is greater if the mother has a low level of education,
has low social support, feels discriminated against and has fallen in
social status. However, there are also clear initiatives that society
can take to improve the mother's situation and well-being, and in this
way reduce the impact on the child: receiving support from her partner,
having a large family or a large social network, and that society rallies
round and supports the mother.

"All the cultures have aspects that are positive. In Sweden, we have our individualistic environments. We have more gender equality, for example,
being able to share parental leave can be a form of relief. At the
same time, we have few natural meeting places for relatives and social situations, something that is much stronger in the groups in the other countries. In Bhutan, an active religious life helps quite a bit. There
is a strong connection to religion, and many people participate in
religious gatherings several times a week. This gives them routines
for regular meetings with others and widespread social support." It is important to note that all the described correlations are statistical,
i.e., based on observations between different parts of the studies. The researchers have not yet studied the causality of the correlations by
improving the mothers' mental health in at-risk settings and measuring
the effects on the children's development. That will be the next step
after the current correlation studies.

"It inspires hope that apparently only small improvements are needed
for the child to revive. In Sweden, we have to work hard to break the isolation, particularly for single mothers. We do not have any social
glue. Many lack strong ties to their relatives and have no extended
family to share the burden.

We lack continuity in religious rites and do not have many natural
contexts to connect to. If we can create more of these opportunities,
we can help turn the tide in the cognitive development of many children
and offer them better lives," says Gustaf Gredeba"ck.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Uppsala_University. Original written
by Elin Ba"ckstro"m.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Joshua Juvrud, Sara A. Haas, Marcus Lindskog, Kim Astor, Sangay C.

Namgyel, Tshering Wangmo, Wangchuk Wangmo, Sithar Dorjee, Kinzang P.

Tshering, Gustaf Gredeba"ck. High quality social environment buffers
infants' cognitive development from poor maternal mental health:
Evidence from a study in Bhutan. Developmental Science, 2021; DOI:
10.1111/ desc.13203
2. Gustaf Gredeba"ck, Sara Haas, Jonathan Hall, Seth Pollak, Dogukan
Cansin
Karakus, Marcus Lindskog. Social cognition in refugee children:
an experimental cross-sectional study of emotional processing with
Syrian families in Turkish communities. Royal Society Open Science,
2021; 8 (8): 210362 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.210362
3. Kim Astor, Marcus Lindskog, Linda Forssman, Ben Kenward, Mari
Fransson,
Alkistis Skalkidou, Anne Tharner, Julie"tte Casse', Gustaf
Gredeba"ck.

Social and emotional contexts predict the development of gaze
following in early infancy. Royal Society Open Science, 2020; 7
(9): 201178 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.201178 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/12/211220083106.htm

--- up 2 weeks, 2 days, 7 hours, 13 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)