Abstract
Objective: To compare mothers of undernourished children with mothers of adequately nourished children on maternal depression, parenting self-esteem, social support and exposure to stressors and to determine if these variables are independently related to undernutrition and stimulation provided in the home after controlling for socio-economic status.
Design: A case control study.
Setting: Children and their mothers were recruited from 18 government health centres in the Kingston, St Andrew and St Catherine parishes of Jamaica.
Subjects: One hundred and thirty-nine mothers of undernourished children (WAZ≤−1.5z scores) aged 9 – 30 months and 71 mothers of adequately nourished children (WAZ > −1z scores) matched for sex and age group were enrolled into the study.
Results: Mothers of undernourished children came from poorer homes but had similar social support to mothers of adequately nourished children. They were more depressed, had lower levels of parenting self-esteem (both P<0.01), reported higher levels of economic stress (P<0.001) and provided a less stimulating home environment (P<0.05). However, after controlling for social background variables there was no independent relationship between either psychosocial function or home stimulation and nutritional status. Undernutrition was found to be mainly explained by economic factors. The mothers' self-esteem was independently associated with the level of stimulation provided to the child.
Conclusions: When caring for undernourished children attention should be paid to the psychosocial status of the mother as well as the physical condition of the child.
Sponsorship: Thrasher Research Fund; Campus Research and Publication Fund, UWI, Jamaica
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abidin R (1986): Parenting Stress Index Manual, 2nd Edition. Charlottesville: Paediatric Psychology Press.
Bandura A (1989): Regulation of cognitive processes through perceived self-efficacy. Dev. Psych. 25, 729–735.
Boddy J & Skuse D (1994): The process of parenting in failure to thrive. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 35, 401–424.
Burchinal M, Follmer A & Bryant D (1996): The relations of maternal social support and family structure with maternal responsiveness and child outcomes among African American families. Dev. Psych. 32, 1073–1083.
Caldwell B & Bradley R (1979): Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment. Little Rock, AR: University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
Chavez A & Martinez C (1982): Growing up in a Developing Community. Guatemala: INCAP-UNU.
Coleman P & Karraker K (1997): Self efficacy and parenting quality: findings and future applications. Dev. Rev. 18, 47–85.
Cravioto J & DeLicardie E (1976): Micro-environmental factors in severe protein calorie malnutrition. In Nutritional Agricultural Development, eds N Schrimshaw & N Behar, pp 25–36. New York: Plenum publishing corporation.
Crnic K, Greenberg M, Ragozin A, Robinson N & Basham R (1983): Effects of stress and social support on mothers and premature and full term infants. Child Dev. 54, 209–217.
Dixon S, Levine R & Brazelton T (1982): Malnutrition: a closer look at the problem in an East African Village. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 24, 670–685.
Dunn L & Dunn (1981): The Revised Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. Nashville: American Guidance Service.
Galler J & Harrison R (2000): Maternal depressive symptoms affect infant cognitive development in Barbados. J. Child Psychol Psychiatry. 41, 747–757.
Goodall J (1979): A social score for kwashiorkor: explaining the look in the child's eyes. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 21, 274–384.
Grantham-McGregor S, Powell C, Walker S & Himes J (1991): Nutritional supplementation, psychosocial stimulation, and mental development of stunted children: the Jamaican Study. Lancet 338, 1–5.
Grantham-McGregor S, Lira P, Ashworth A, Morris S & Assuncao A (1998): The development of low birth weight term infants and the effects of the environment in northeast Brazil. J. Pediatr. 132, 661–666.
Graves P (1976): Nutrition, infant behaviour and maternal characteristics. A pilot study in West Bengal, India. Am. J. Clin. Nut. 29, 305–319.
Hamill P, Drizd T, Johnson C, Reed R & Roche A (1977): NCHS growth curves for children birth to 18 years. United States. US DHEW Pub No (PHS) 78-1650, Series II, No. 165.
Lohman T, Roche A & Martorell R (1989): Anthropometric Standardization Reference Manual. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
Martins C & Gaffan E (2000): Effects of early maternal depression on patterns of infant-mother attachment: a meta-analytic investigation. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 41, 737–746.
McGee R, Silva P & Williams S (1984): Perinatal, neurological, environmental and developmental characteristics of seven year old children with stable behaviour problems. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 25, 573–586.
Meeks-Gardner J, Grantham-McGregor S, Himes J & Chang S (1999): Behaviour and development of stunted and non-stunted Jamaican children. J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry 40, 819–827.
Murray L, Fiori-Cowley A & Hooper R (1996): The impact of postnatal depression and associated adversity on early mother-infant interactions and later infant outcome. Child Development 67, 2512–2526.
Peterson S & Albers A (2001): Effects of poverty and maternal depression on early child development. Child Dev. 72, 1794–1813.
Pollitt E, Saco-Pollit C, Jahari A, Husaini M & Huang J (2000): Effects of an energy and micronutrient supplement on mental development and behaviour under natural conditions in undernourished children in Indonesia. Eur. J. Clin. Nut. 54(Suppl 2) S80–S90.
Radloff L (1977): The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Appl. Psychol. Meas. 1, 385–401.
Salt P, Galler J & Ramsey F (1988): The influence of early malnutrition on subsequent behavioural development. VII. The effects of maternal depressive symptoms. J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr. 9, 1–6.
Sherbourne C & Stewart A (1991): The MOS Social Support Survey. Soc. Sci. Med. 32, 705–714.
Sigman M, Neumann C, Baksh M, Bwibo N & McDonald M (1989): Relationship between nutrition and development in Kenyan toddlers. J. Pediatr. 115, 357–364.
Sommerfelt K, Andersson H, Sonnander K, Ahlsten G, Ellertsen B, Markestad T, Jacobsen G & Bakketeig L (2001): Behavior in term, small for gestational age preschoolers. Early Hum. Dev. 65, 107–121.
Valenzuela M (1990): Attachment in chronically underweight young children. Child Dev. 61, 1984–1996.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Margaret White for administering the questionnaires and Joan Thomas for measuring the children. This work was undertaken in collaboration with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust which receives a proportion of its funding from the NHS Executive.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Contributors: HB-H contributed to the study conception and design, collection and assembly of results, analysis of the data and drafting the paper. CP contributed to the study conception and design, initiated and directed the study and responsible for recruitment of participants and sample selection. SW contributed to the study conception and design, analysis of the data and revision of the paper. SG-M contributed to study conception and design, data analysis and drafting of the paper.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baker-Henningham, H., Powell, C., Walker, S. et al. Mothers of undernourished Jamaican children have poorer psychosocial functioning and this is associated with stimulation provided in the home. Eur J Clin Nutr 57, 786–792 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601611
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1601611
Keywords
This article is cited by
-
Associations of Socio-Demographic and Environmental Factors with the Early Development of Young Children in Bangladesh
International Journal of Early Childhood (2021)
-
Effects of psychosocial stimulation on improving home environment and child-rearing practices: results from a community-based trial among severely malnourished children in Bangladesh
BMC Public Health (2012)
-
Effects of a community-based approach of food and psychosocial stimulation on growth and development of severely malnourished children in Bangladesh: a randomised trial
European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2012)
-
The effect of maternal common mental disorders on infant undernutrition in Butajira, Ethiopia: The P-MaMiE study
BMC Psychiatry (2010)