A mother's mood and anxiety disorders, smoking, problem drinking, drug use and exposure to domestic violence may contribute to her children's behavior problems, according to background information in the article. Although more than one of these conditions often occur in the same woman, their combined effects on children have not been previously studied. Understanding how these problems in mothers affect children could help prevent behavior problems, the authors write.

Robert C. Whitaker, M.D., M.P.H., Mathematica Policy Research Inc., Princeton, New Jersey, and colleagues followed for three years 2,756 children born between 1998 and 2000 in 18 large U.S. cities. Mothers and fathers each answered survey questions shortly after their child was born and also completed a follow-up survey about their well-being one year later. Mothers' health conditions were split into three categories: mental health, substance abuse and domestic violence. Three years later, researchers surveyed the mothers about their children's behavior, asking about instances of aggressive, anxious/depressed or inattention/hyperactive conduct.

After one year, half of the mothers had a condition in at least one of the three categories and 22 percent of children had at least one type of behavior problem. The more areas in which a mother reported difficulties, the more likely her child was to develop behavior problems by age 3 years. When mothers reported difficulties in zero, one, two or three areas, reports of aggression among their children at age 3 years increased from 7 percent to 12 percent to 17 percent to 19 percent, respectively; anxiety and depression increased from 9 perce
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Contact: Joanne Pfleiderer
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JAMA and Archives Journals
1-May-2006