Resilience to Cumulative Stressors: A Prediction Study of Schoolchildren Living With Maternal Depression

Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2017 Oct;53(4):321-328. doi: 10.1111/ppc.12183. Epub 2016 Jul 27.

Abstract

Purpose: To identify the predictive effect of multiple variables of risk and resilience on the behavior of school-age children living with maternal depression.

Design and methods: In a cross-sectional predictive study, the influence of maternal depression, cumulative stressors, and resilience on the behavior of children was analyzed.

Findings: In the univariate analysis, maternal depression and cumulative stressors were considered as risks, and resilience as protection for the children. In the multivariate analysis, resilience was a predictor of fewer problems in the presence of maternal depression and risks.

Practice implications: The degree of resilience was an indicator for the relevance of developmental actions involving effective coping skills for cumulative stressors, including maternal depression.

Keywords: Children; maternal depression; resilience; risk; school age.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Child
  • Child Behavior / psychology*
  • Child of Impaired Parents / psychology*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Depressive Disorder / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mothers / psychology*
  • Prognosis
  • Resilience, Psychological*
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology*