Child Externalizing Behaviors, Father Involvement, and Depressive Symptoms in Low-Income Non-Cohabitating Mothers

• In Event: Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Topic - Family Context & Processes

Abstract

Father involvement (FI) among divorced or separated mothers has been shown to lessen the severity of maternal depressive symptoms (Smith & Howard, 2008). In the context of child externalizing behavior (i.e., losing temper, fighting with other children or bullying, arguing with adults), father involvement may lessen the impact of externalizing behaviors on maternal depressive symptoms (Chang et al., 2007). However, few studies have examined these relationships in a large, low-income, and racially/ethnically diverse sample of mothers. The present study examines the associations between maternal reports of FI, maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal reports of child externalizing behaviors in a low-income, primarily minority sample of unmarried mothers. We hypothesized that: H1) Higher levels of FI will be negatively associated with maternal depressive symptoms; H2) High levels of child externalizing behaviors will be associated with higher maternal depressive symptoms; and H3) Father involvement will moderate the relationship between child externalizing behaviors and maternal depressive symptoms in that higher father involvement will be associated with lower child externalizing behaviors and lower maternal depressive symptoms.
Participants were 87 mothers living in a large, mid-Atlantic metropolitan area (78.2% African American, and 15% Hispanic/Latino) with children between the ages of 2 to 11 years. All participants were not living with their child's father, and all were low-income as determined by eligibility for government benefits. Participants completed self-report measures that assessed child externalizing behavior, frequency of FI (i.e., attend child events or activities, engage in routine caretaking, care for child when the child is ill), and depressive symptoms.
A simple linear regression revealed that H1 was not supported, in that maternal reports of FI activities were not significantly associated with maternal depressive symptoms. However, H2 was supported. A simple linear regression indicated that maternal reports of child externalizing behaviors were significantly associated with maternal depressive symptoms (β=1.1, p<0.001). H3 was analyzed using the Hayes PROCESS macro, and while the results indicated that maternal reports of externalizing behaviors and maternal reports of FI were associated with maternal depressive symptoms (p=0.004), further probing indicated that most of the variance was explained by externalizing symptoms; the interaction between externalizing symptoms and FI activities was not significantly associated with maternal depressive symptoms.
These results suggest that for this sample of mothers, child externalizing behaviors likely play a larger role in the severity of maternal depressive symptoms than FI behaviors do. Future research should further elucidate why FI did not have the expected effect, and should aim to better understand what other factors may negatively impact the strong relationship between child externalizing behaviors and maternal depressive symptoms for mothers who do not live with their child’s father. Especially among low-income populations, interventions should target providing resources, such as child mental health services, as a way to manage the effects of child behavioral problems on maternal well-being.

Authors

• Maya Cook, George Washington University
  Presenting Author

• Sean Duane, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Grace Rittenhouse, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Christina Gee, George Washington University
  Non-Presenting Author