The effects of caregiver depression and caregiver stress on the relationship between poverty and social and emotional development in children
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The Department of Human Development and Family Studies focuses on the interactions among individuals, families, and their resources and environments throughout their lifespans. It consists of three majors: Child, Adult, and Family Services (preparing students to work for agencies serving children, youth, adults, and families); Family Finance, Housing, and Policy (preparing students for work as financial counselors, insurance agents, loan-officers, lobbyists, policy experts, etc); and Early Childhood Education (preparing students to teach and work with young children and their families).
History
The Department of Human Development and Family Studies was formed in 1991 from the merger of the Department of Family Environment and the Department of Child Development.
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1991-present
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- College of Human Sciences (parent college)
- Department of Child Development (predecessor)
- Department of Family Environment (predecessor)
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Abstract
Literature on the course of children's social emotional development in early childhood is abundant. In addition, literature has identified that various family level variables play a role in a children's social emotional development. However, little research has utilized longitudinal panel data to investigate the relationship between children's social emotional development and caregiver's psychological well being.
In this paper, latent growth curves were constructed for children's externalizing behaviors, caregiver depression, and caregiver stress. Latent growth curves were constructed for caregiver stress, caregiver depression, and child externalizing behaviors. The mean score for participants were highest at the initial measurement points and decreased over the course of the subsequent measurement periods. A structural equation model was utilized to identify a model in which the effect of time living in poverty on externalizing behaviors was mediated by caregiver depression. In addition, the effect of caregiver depression on externalizing behaviors was mediated by caregiver stress. Implications and limitation of this study are discussed.