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The
goal of the proposed pilot investigation is to test the prediction that
children of depressed mothers will demonstrate compromised health status,
including engaging in more health-risk behavior, than children of mothers
who are not depressed. Provided that such a link is established by
the data, we will then examine the mediating role of family relationships,
as well as whether the nature of the obtained associations differ by race.
To test the proposed relationships, we will examine approximately 180 families
who are participating in an ongoing investigation of developmental pathways
leading to early antisocial behavior in male children from low socioeconomic
status families. As part of the ongoing investigation, multiple measures
of parent, family, and child adjustment are verbally administered to participants,
as well as observational studies in the home and lab. The proposed
measures will supplement the ongoing protocol at the age 11 laboratory
assessment. Measures of child health-risk status will be added to
the study, as well as health-risk status of the mother. Measures
of maternal depression, child adjustment, and family functioning already
collected in the study will also be used to test the hypothesized associations.
The design allows us to test the association between maternal depression,
family relationships, and child health-risk status in both African-American
and Caucasian families. (PDF
VERSION)(MS
WORD VERSION) |
