About this srcd poster session

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Panel information
Panel 16. Prevention and Interventions

Abstract

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Introduction: Early Head Start (EHS) is an intervention targeted towards families, though many studies solely focus on child outcomes in this service-seeking population. It is well documented that mothers play a critical role in family and child functioning, and that their mental health directly impacts child social emotional development (Phua et al., 2020; Tol et al., 2020). While maternal depression may be one of the more widely studied influences for child adjustment, self-perceived maternal wellbeing also encompasses other important elements, including parenting distress, perceived quality of the parent-child relationship, and perception of external factors such as household chaos and social support (Deater-Deckard, 2004; Zvara et al., 2020). Given the potential additional socioeconomic risk for EHS families and limited resources within the program, it is critical to examine overall maternal wellbeing to identify which families may need additional targeted support. The aim of the current study was to examine profiles of overall wellbeing of mothers with children enrolled in EHS.

Methods: Data were drawn from a nationally representative cross-sectional sample of mother-child dyads (N=663) enrolled in EHS (Baby FACES; Xue et al., 2023), with children ages 11 months to 46 months. Mothers reported on their levels of parenting distress, household chaos, perceived closeness and conflict with their child, depressive symptoms, and social support. Latent profile analysis was conducted in MPlus, and SPSS was used to conduct ANOVAs to further explore any group differences.

Results: Results from latent profile analysis indicated the 5-profile model fit the data best, using a combination of AIC, BIC, ABIC, LMR LRT, BLRT, and entropy (See Figure 1). ANOVAs were also conducted to examine relevant group differences for profile factors, with significant differences found across the domains of wellbeing (See Table 1). These groups were interpreted as 1) mothers who with impaired parent-child relationship functioning but low depressive symptoms (Group 1; 17.19%), 2) mothers with high levels of depressive symptoms but also high levels of social support (Group 2; 3.09%), 3) mothers with moderate levels of distress and depression (Group 3; 7.35%), 4) mothers functioning well across domains (Group 4; 69%), and 5) mothers with poor overall mental health across all areas (Group 5; 2%).

Conclusion: These findings suggest complexity in maternal wellbeing for the service-seeking mothers of young children in EHS in our sample. Notably, most mothers were doing well across domains, which may speak to the quality of services that EHS is already providing. However, there were important distinct profiles of mothers who were having more difficulty, including those who were universally struggling, versus those who were struggling more specifically in either the parent-child relationship or their own mental health who may need more targeted support. Future analyses will examine predictors of wellbeing profiles, including economic risk, education, food insecurity, time in EHS, and age and gender of child, so that EHS can better identify mothers in need.

Author information

Author	Role
Jessilyn Froelich, University of Missouri, St. Louis	Presenting author
Haley L. Ringenary, University of Missouri, St. Louis	Non-presenting author
Madyson Diehl, University of Missouri, St. Louis	Non-presenting author
Emily D. Gerstein, University of Missouri, St. Louis	Non-presenting author

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