RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Trajectories of Early Childhood Skill Development and Maternal Mental Health
JF Journal of Human Resources
FD University of Wisconsin Press
SP S365
OP S401
DO 10.3368/jhr.1222-12693R3
VO 59
IS S
A1 Sevim, Dilek
A1 Baranov, Victoria
A1 Bhalotra, Sonia
A1 Maselko, Joanna
A1 Biroli, Pietro
YR 2024
UL http://jhr.uwpress.org/content/59/S/S365.abstract
AB We investigate the impacts of a perinatal psychosocial intervention on trajectories of maternal mental health and child skills, from birth to age 3. We find improved maternal mental health and functioning (0.17–0.29 SD), modest but imprecisely estimated improvements in parenting (0.07–0.11 SD), and transitory improvements in child socio-emotional development (0.06–0.39 SD). The intervention had negligible influence on physical health and cognition. Estimates of a skill production function reveal the intervention attenuated the negative association between maternal depression and child outcomes, and it narrowed outcome gaps between mothers who were and were not depressed in pregnancy.