{"title":"Cascading effects of residential mobility on maternal and child mental health.","authors":"Rachel Abenavoli, Sara Amadon, Sydney Briggs","doi":"10.1037/dev0001950","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Moving is a common experience for U.S. families and may negatively affect the mental health of both parents and children. In this study, we examined how residential mobility is associated with changes in mental health over time among mothers and children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (previously \"Fragile Families\") from the child's birth to age 15. Using path analyses, we found that moving frequently when children were young was associated with greater depression among mothers when their children were 5, which, in turn, was associated with maternal and child mental health outcomes in the middle childhood and adolescent periods. That is, maternal depression acted as a pathway through which early residential mobility was associated with both maternal and child outcomes over time. This study highlights the complex interplay between residential mobility and maternal and child mental health and the critical role of maternal depression. Results underscore the need to support mothers who move frequently to support their own and their children's mental health in the years to follow. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).</p>","PeriodicalId":48464,"journal":{"name":"Developmental Psychology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.1000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Developmental Psychology","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001950","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Moving is a common experience for U.S. families and may negatively affect the mental health of both parents and children. In this study, we examined how residential mobility is associated with changes in mental health over time among mothers and children in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study (previously "Fragile Families") from the child's birth to age 15. Using path analyses, we found that moving frequently when children were young was associated with greater depression among mothers when their children were 5, which, in turn, was associated with maternal and child mental health outcomes in the middle childhood and adolescent periods. That is, maternal depression acted as a pathway through which early residential mobility was associated with both maternal and child outcomes over time. This study highlights the complex interplay between residential mobility and maternal and child mental health and the critical role of maternal depression. Results underscore the need to support mothers who move frequently to support their own and their children's mental health in the years to follow. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
期刊介绍:
Developmental Psychology ® publishes articles that significantly advance knowledge and theory about development across the life span. The journal focuses on seminal empirical contributions. The journal occasionally publishes exceptionally strong scholarly reviews and theoretical or methodological articles. Studies of any aspect of psychological development are appropriate, as are studies of the biological, social, and cultural factors that affect development. The journal welcomes not only laboratory-based experimental studies but studies employing other rigorous methodologies, such as ethnographies, field research, and secondary analyses of large data sets. We especially seek submissions in new areas of inquiry and submissions that will address contradictory findings or controversies in the field as well as the generalizability of extant findings in new populations. Although most articles in this journal address human development, studies of other species are appropriate if they have important implications for human development. Submissions can consist of single manuscripts, proposed sections, or short reports.