Incorporating Caregiver Mental Health and Parenting into the Identification of Risk for Children Experiencing Homelessness.

• In Event: Individual Differences and Strengths Among Parents Experiencing Homelessness: Links to Child Adjustment

Abstract

Parents’ health and well-being significantly impacts their children’s growth and development. A robust evidence base indicates that maternal depression, often positively correlated with interpersonal trauma among women, is associated with delays in social-emotional functioning, executive functions, and self-regulatory capacities in young children. Children who experience homelessness or housing instability are an especially high-risk group. Homeless mothers evidence higher than average rates of maternal depression and trauma; 20% of homeless preschoolers demonstrate a mental health condition, and up to 25% demonstrate a developmental delay by age five. The Neurodevelopmental Ecological Screening tool (NEST) is a newly developed web-based, parent report developmental screener created specifically for children experiencing homelessness. NEST identifies a child’s level of risk across 5 neurodevelopmental constructs and 12 subconstructs in relation to caregiver well-being, parenting style, and five environmental risk factors. Using data from the national validation study (n=231) at 9 sites across the U.S, we examined the relationship between child neurodevelopomental outcomes and caregiver functioning. Results indicate that caregiver depression is positively correlated with an overreactive parenting styles, both of which have a significant negative correlation across all domains of early childhood development. Caregiver trauma presents a somewhat different picture, suggesting that there may be some positive ways that trauma and parenting interact to support child development. Implications of this new ecological screening model will be discussed in terms of both psychometric measurement and practical relevance for those working with highly mobile and homeless families.

Author

• Carmela J DeCandia, Artemis Associates
  Presenting Author