UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
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Item HIPPOCAMPAL SUBREGION VOLUME IN HIGH-RISK OFFSPRING PREDICTS INCREASES IN DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS ACROSS THE TRANSITION TO ADOLESCENCE(2020) Hubachek, Samantha Qirko; Dougherty, Lea R.; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The hippocampus has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression. This study examined whether youth hippocampal subregion volumes were differentially associated with maternal depression history and youth’s depressive symptoms across the transition to adolescence. 74 preadolescent offspring (Mage=10.74+/-.84 years) of mothers with (n=33) and without a lifetime depression history (n=41) completed a structural brain scan. Youth depressive symptoms were assessed prior to the neuroimaging assessment at age 9 (Mage=9.08+/-.29 years), at the neuroimaging assessment, and in early adolescence (Mage=12.56+/-.40 years). Maternal depression was associated with preadolescent offspring’s reduced bilateral hippocampal head volumes and increased left hippocampal body volume. Reduced bilateral head volumes were associated with offspring’s increased concurrent depressive symptoms. Furthermore, reduced right hippocampal head volume mediated associations between maternal depression and increases in offspring depressive symptoms from age 9 to age 12. Findings implicate reductions in hippocampal head volume in the intergenerational transmission of risk from parents to offspring.Item Psychological Well-being and Health Gains in the Developing World: Evidence from Peru and Malawi(2018) Dickerson, Sarah; Graham, Carol; Public Policy; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In this dissertation, I assess the relationship between psychological well-being and health gains in Peru and Malawi. The first chapter consists of a comprehensive and systematic examination of research that frames the quantitative analyses found in the second and third chapters. It investigates literature on the relationship between maternal well-being and multiple dimensions of health in children and adolescents. It also explains how maternal depression may interact with poverty to worsen offspring’s outcomes. Then, it explores literature on the association between catastrophic health expenditure in Malawi and two of its potential predictors: unexplained happiness and access to antiretroviral therapy (ART), a treatment regimen for people living with HIV/AIDS. The second chapter assesses the impacts of maternal depression and life satisfaction on children in Peru. Using panel data from rounds three (2009-2010) and four (2013-2014) of Young Lives Peru, I find that children’s self-reported life satisfaction and health positively correlate with maternal life satisfaction and negatively associate with maternal depression. Furthermore, maternal life satisfaction predicts whether a female adolescent smokes, while maternal depression predicts smoking behavior and misinformation on pregnancy amongst male adolescents. The third chapter investigates the relationships between household catastrophic health expenditure in Malawi and two predictors, antiretroviral therapy (ART) and unexplained happiness. Using data from round two (2004-2005) and round three (2010-2011) of Malawi’s Integrated Household Survey, I find that proximity to ART-providing clinics and higher levels of psychological well-being associate with reduced likelihood of catastrophic health expenditure.Item RECURRENCE AND TIMING OF EXPOSURE TO MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DEPRESSIVE AND CONDUCT SYMPTOMS IN CHILDREN WITH AND WITHOUT ADHD(2015) Wang, Christine; Chronis-Tuscano, Andrea; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The current study examined the longitudinal associations between recurrence and timing of exposure to maternal depression and the development of depressive and conduct symptoms in children with and without ADHD. Methods: 125 children with ADHD and 122 comparison children, ages 4-6, were followed over an 8-year period (until age 12-14). Results: Total recurrence of maternal depression was associated with youth depressive and conduct symptoms. Moreover, early adolescent exposure to maternal depression predicted youth depressive symptoms for all children. Exposure to maternal depression during preschool, childhood, and early adolescence each independently predicted youth conduct symptoms. Child ADHD status moderated the link between total recurrence of maternal depression and youth depressive symptoms and the link between preschool exposure and youth depressive symptoms. Child ADHD status did not moderate relations between total recurrence and timing of exposure to maternal depression and youth conduct symptoms.Item The effects of maternal depression on speech to pre-school children: Implications for language development(2012) Miller, Anna; Newman, Rochelle; Hearing and Speech Sciences; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)We examined whether a past history of maternal depression affects the manner in which mothers speak to their children, and whether any differences relate to child language development. To do this, we measured acoustic, temporal and content-based speech/language characteristics of 40 pre-school-aged children and mothers with and without a history of depression. Results indicated that children of mothers with a past history of depression exhibited significantly lower vocabulary scores than children of mothers unaffected by depression. However, no maternal speech/language variables appeared to account for this difference. Maternal pitch variability and number of negative utterances both were found to correlate with child vocabulary scores; however, neither variable was found to relate to prior depression status. We discuss possible explanations for these findings and implications for child language development.Item Pathways between exposure to violence, maternal depression, family structury [i.e. structure] and child outcomes through parenting: A multi-group analysis(2007-07-27) Westbrook, T'Pring R.; Jones-Harden, Brenda`; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Arguably one of the greatest influences on a child's development is the parenting he or she experiences. With that perspective, family stress theory posits that children in low-income families are affected by poverty-related stressors through their effect on their parents. The present study used family stress theory as a framework to study the impact of proximal (i.e., family structure, maternal depression) and distal (i.e., community violence) risk factors, or stressors, on parenting characteristics which were in turn hypothesized to impact child social-emotional functioning. Data from the FACES 2000 study of children enrolled in Head Start and their families were used to conduct the analyses. The sample consisted of 1417 African American, Latino, and White mothers of preschool children. The present study hypothesized that exposure to violence, family structure, maternal depression, and parenting styles measured at time 1 would affect child social-emotional functioning at time 2. Moreover, it was hypothesized that a SEM model wherein violence exposure, family structure, and maternal depression's influenced parenting characteristics, which then impacted the child outcome, would fit the data. Finally, it was hypothesized that these findings would be consistent across African American, Latino, and White subgroups. The data revealed that the study variables were significant predictors of the child outcome. Although few of the key variables significantly contributed to the regression models or had significant pathways in the SEM models, the cumulative effect of the variables resulted in significant models that accounted for 21-37% of the outcome. The multi-group analysis revealed that despite differences in the amount of variance explained, the causal pathways were consistent for the groups analyzed. Findings support theories such as the family stress model that suggest that poverty related stressors negatively impact children's development by first negatively impacting parenting behaviors. This pattern of influence was consistent across race/ethnicities. It may not be practical to expect practitioners to address the myriad of potential risks factors encountered by low-income families, but parents can be equipped with mental health services, parent education, and other such assistance to help them maintain positive parenting practices in the face of life's challenges.Item Role of Maternal Social Support and Church Attendance in Moderating the Relationship Between Maternal Depression and African American Preschoolers' Behavior Problems(2004-11-30) Tyler, Crystal Michelle; Koblinsky, Sally A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Policymakers, educators, researchers and practitioners are devoting increasing attention to the challenges faced by low-income families in urban communities. Research indicates that poor women with young children are particularly susceptible to experiencing depression. Maternal depression has been associated with numerous negative outcomes for both mothers and their children. In view of the high prevalence of maternal depression and the myriad stressors faced by poor families in high crime neighborhoods, there is an urgent need to identify factors that may attenuate the negative impact of mother's depression on preschoolers' socioemotional development. Thus, the major purpose of this study was to examine the potential of social support and church attendance to moderate the relationship between maternal depression and children's behavior problems. The present study utilized secondary data from a larger, three-year study funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The sample for this study consisted of low-income African American mothers in violent neighborhoods in Washington, DC and Prince George's County, Maryland. All mothers had a three-to-five year old child enrolled in Head Start. Data were obtained through face-to-face interviews utilizing culturally-sensitive measures. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the main and interaction effects for predictor (maternal depressive symptoms), moderator (social support, church attendance), and criterion variables (child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems). Results revealed that maternal depressive symptomology significantly predicted children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. Findings further revealed that social support moderated the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and children's externalizing behavior problems. When the level of social support increased for mothers who did not exhibit extreme depressive symptomology, children had fewer externalizing behavior problems. In contrast, when social support increased for mothers with very severe depressive symptoms, children had greater externalizing problems. Maternal social support did not buffer preschoolers' internalizing problems. Maternal church attendance likewise failed to buffer the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and internalizing or externalizing problems. Findings suggest a need for culturally-sensitive strategies to increase the support networks of low-income, urban, African American mothers of preschoolers. Such efforts may help educators and family practitioners to reduce the impact of maternal depression on preschoolers' externalizing behavior problems.