Predictors of Depression in Latina Mothers of Youth and Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: An Overview of Baseline Data for a Health Promotion Intervention

Background and Purpose: Intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) such as Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect about six percent of children nationally. Care for children with IDD can be rewarding but challenging. Caregivers can often struggle to manage their own health care needs. Caregiver stressors may be compounded for the Latino population for whom cultural, linguistic, socioeconomic, and immigration issues have to be considered. Research suggests that Latina mothers of children with IDD experience higher levels of depression, a higher number of physical health problems, but have fewer health resources compared to non-Latina White mothers and Latina mothers of children without IDD. A promising culturally responsive health promotion intervention is being tested to address health disparities for Latina mothers of children with IDD. This presentation provides results from study baseline data to determine the prevalence of the most commonly occurring IDDs, health conditions and depression, and to identify predictors of clinically significant depression.

Methods: Data were obtained from baseline interviews conducted in Spanish with 131 Latina mothers of children with IDD participating in an intervention based on the Promotoras de Salud peer educator model. Seventeen health conditions were assessed including: depression, hypertension, diabetes, and arthritis/rheumatism. Depression was measured using the CES-D. Ordinary least squares regression was used to regress CES-D score on a set of predictor variables that included: age, caregiver demographics, the most common health-related conditions, insurance status, the caregiver’s English fluency, and years in the U.S.

Results: Latina caregivers were providing care to children with autism (27%), cerebral palsy (25%), Down syndrome (17%), and intellectual disability (17%). The most commonly occurring caregiver health conditions were: frequent/severe headaches (50%), chronic back or neck problems (35%), other chronic pain (26%), hypertension (24%), and arthritis (24%). Using the standard CES-D threshold score, 52% of the women met criteria for clinically significant depression. Statistically significant predictors (at p < .05) of depression (model R²=.49; p < .001) included: mother’s health compared to five years ago, arthritis/rheumatism, other chronic pain, and higher fluency in English as proxy for acculturation.

Conclusions and Implications: These analyses show that conditions characterized by chronic pain as well as depression are very common among Latina caregivers of children with IDDs. Although there has been some recent support for parents and families of children with IDD, there are few established evidence-based, culturally responsive interventions. With the expected exponential growth of the Latino population and prevalence of conditions such as ASD, targeting health/healthcare disparities and supporting protective cultural factors is crucial for improving health and mental health outcomes. The findings support social work by providing a beginning understanding of the unique caregiving experiences of Latina mothers of children with IDD. The next step will be to develop strategies that improve their quality of life and reduce depression. Towards that end, the parent study will help determine if health education with the use of promotoras for Latina mothers of children with IDD is a viable, cost-effective, and sustainable means of intervening with this highly vulnerable population.