ArticlePeerJ2021
Maternal depressive symptoms and early childhood development: the role of mother-child interactions among mother-child dyads in rural areas of Central and Western China.
Article in PeerJ, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association of primary caregiver anxiety and caregiving role with early development of preschool children: a population‑based study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Overreactive parenting links maternal depressive symptoms and child prosocial behaviors among mother-child dyads in Western China.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Family structure and birth order in relation to preschoolers' social, emotional, and behavioral outcomes: a cross-sectional analysis of 19,987 children in western China.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal associations between family conflict, intergenerational transmission, and adolescents' depressive symptoms: evidence from China Family Panel studies (2016-2020).Child and adolescent psychiatry and mental health · 2025Article
- Maternal depression and early childhood development among children aged 24-59 months: the mediating effect of responsive caregiving.Annals of general psychiatry · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe associations among maternal depressive symptoms (MDS), mother-child interactions and early child development are poorly understood. This study aimed to explore the role of mother-child interactions on the associations between MDS and child development.
methodsA cross-sectional study with a multistage sampling method was conducted in rural areas of Central and Western China. MDS, child development outcomes (communication, gross motor function, fine motor function, problem solving and personal social skills) and mother-child interactions were assessed by The Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale, the Chinese version of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires and the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, respectively. Regression-based statistical mediation and moderation were conducted using the PROCESS macro for SPSS.
resultsA total of 2,548 participants (mothers: 1,274; children: 1,274) were included in our analyses. MDS was negatively associated with child development outcomes and mother-child interactions partly mediated these associations. The proportion of the mediating effect of mother-child interactions was 7.7% for communication, 8.2% for gross motor, 10.3% for fine motor, 10.1% for problem-solving and 9.5% for personal social domains. In addition, the interaction effects of MDS and mother-child interactions on the communication domain were significant (
conclusionOur results suggest the important role of mother-child interactions on the associations between MDS and early childhood development. Due to the cross-sectional design of this study, these associations require further investigation in prospective studies.
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