Friday, 14 January 2005 - 2:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Adolescent Mental Health

Impact of Maternal Mental Health Status on Child Mental Health Treatment Outcome

Purpose: The mental health of children is a critically important issue facing our nation. Approximately 20% of children suffer from mental health problems that could severely impair their functioning and development. Moreover, untreated childhood mental health problems are one of the biggest risk factors for experiencing mental health problems in adulthood. Many factors might impede treatment response of children suffering from mental health problems. Little is known about the treatment presentation and outcome of children of mothers with a mental health disorder. This study examines the impact of maternal mental health status on child treatment outcome in a community mental health setting.

Methods: One hundred and eighty mother-child pairs participated in the study. Psychiatric assessments were conducted of mothers and their children at baseline (when the child entered treatment) and follow-up (six months later). Mental health status of mothers and children was assessed using both a diagnostic measure (SCID for mothers, KSADS for children) and a symptom checklist measure (BDI for mothers, CBCL for children). In addition, mothers completed a battery of questionnaires. Analyses of variance and regression analyses were used to examine the relationships between maternal mental health status, child mental health status, and child treatment outcome over time.

Results: A two (time) by two (maternal mental health status) ANOVA demonstrated that maternal mental health status had a substantial impact on children’s mental health status at baseline and follow-up in terms of both children’s diagnostic status with F (1, 177) = 4.98, p < .01, and children’s behavioral status with F (1, 177) = 21.69, p < .001. These results indicate that children of mothers with mental health problems were significantly more impaired than children of mentally healthy mothers. In addition, both groups of children benefited from community treatment over time. However, there was no indication that children of mothers with mental health problems improved at a different rate than children of mentally healthy mothers, both in terms of children’s diagnostic status with F(1,177) = .05, p = .82, and children’s behavioral status with F (1,177) = 1.82, p = .18.

Implications for Practice: This study supports previous work indicating that maternal mental illness places children at increased risk. The current study demonstrates that of children who present for mental health treatment, children of mothers with mental health problems are more impaired. This suggests that early mental health screening of children of mentally ill mothers may be an important preventive practice. The relationship between maternal and child mental health status also highlights the need for a family approach to mental health services. Finally, the fact that children of mentally ill mothers improve in treatment at approximately the same rate as children of mentally healthy mothers is encouraging in light of their increased risk. Therefore, early identification and treatment of these children may be a key factor in enhancing their future outcomes.

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