Maternal depressive symptoms and children's academic performance: sex differences in the mediating role of school experiences

Abstract

Background Maternal depressive symptoms (MDSs) are negatively associated with children's academic performance, with stronger effects sometimes reported in boys. However, few studies have tested the mechanisms of this association. We examined the mediating role of school engagement and peer victimization in this association and tested for sex differences. Methods Participants were 1173 families from a population-based longitudinal Canadian study. MDSs were self-reported annually using the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (child's age: 5 months to 5 years). Data on mediators (peer victimization, cognitive, behavioral, and emotional school engagement) were reported annually from ages 6–10 by multiple informants including children, parents, and teachers using items from validated scales. Mathematics, reading, and writing exam scores at age 12 were obtained from standardized exams administered by Québec's Ministry of Education and Teaching. Structural equation modeling was used to test mediation by school experiences in boys and girls. Results Exposure to MDSs was negatively associated with mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls and with mathematics only in boys. Cognitive and behavioral engagement significantly mediated the association between MDSs and mathematics, reading, and writing scores in girls. There were no significant mediators for boys. Conclusions Prevention and intervention strategies aiming to improve school engagement might be beneficial for daughters of mothers experiencing depressive symptoms. Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to identify the mechanisms explaining this association in boys.

Sex differences in the association between maternal depression and child and adolescent cognitive development: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Nevertheless, it is worth noting that maternal depression remained significantly associated with offspring cognitive outcomes after accounting for important covariates such as maternal anxiety and level of education. Furthermore, in the two studies which reported adjusted sex-specific associations (Ahun et al, 2020; Ng-Knight et al, 2018), sex differences remained after adjusting for covariates. It is therefore likely that our findings would hold after accounting for covariates.…”

“…In total, 12 articles from eight unique datasets met eligibility criteria and were included in the meta-analysis (Table 1). Studies were conducted in six countries: six in the UK (Hay et al, 2001; Hay, Pawlby, Waters, & Sharp, 2008; Murray et al, 2010; Murray, Hipwell, Hooper, Stein, & Cooper, 1996; Ng-Knight et al, 2018; Sharp et al, 1995), two in Canada (Ahun et al, 2020; Paquin et al, 2020), and one each in Australia (Cornish et al, 2005), the USA (Davies & Windle, 1997), South Africa (Donald et al, 2019), and Finland (Nolvi et al, 2018).

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“…Another key risk of bias was the lack of sex-specific estimates of the adjusted associations between maternal depression and cognitive outcomes. Although most studies included covariates in their analyses, only two (Ahun et al, 2020; Ng-Knight et al, 2018) reported separate adjusted associations for boys and girls. Results should therefore be interpreted within the context of these limitations.…”

“…Recent publications do not provide a clear indication of whether boys truly are more vulnerable than girls, with some studies reporting a stronger association in girls (e.g. Ahun et al, 2020) and others reporting no sex differences (e.g. Ng-Knight, Shelton, Frederickson, McManus, & Rice, 2018).…”

“…Studies examining underlying mechanisms are needed to identify modifiable mediators which can be targeted in interventions to mitigate the negative effects of maternal depression. For instance, one study found that although maternal depression was associated with academic performance in both boys and girls, school engagement only mediated the association between exposure and outcome in girls (Ahun et al, 2020). In another study, children's self-control and their perceptions of maternal warmth only mediated the association in girls (Ng-Knight et al, 2018).…”