Early Head Start Services Buffer the Effects of Maternal Depression on Child Development

Maternal depression causes distress within a family system and can lead to poor social–emotional development among children if left unaddressed. Caregivers who experience economic distress are disproportionately affected, but early intervention programs, such as Early Head Start (EHS), have been shown to be effective at reducing maternal depressive symptoms and promoting children’s social–emotional health when families are highly engaged in services. However, less is known about longitudinal associations between family engagement in EHS services, maternal depressive symptoms, and children’s social–emotional development. The current study explores whether EHS service delivery type (home based or center based) influences within- and between-year linkages among family engagement, maternal depressive symptoms, and children’s social–emotional development. Results indicate that greater family engagement in EHS services predicts lower caregiver depressive symptoms in subsequent years, regardless of service delivery type. Greater caregiver depressive symptoms may also predict lower engagement in subsequent years among home-based (but not center-based) families. There was some evidence that family engagement at age 1 predicts children’s social–emotional competence at age 3 through depressive symptoms at age 2; however, this mediation effect did not vary as a function of EHS service type. Our findings suggest that promoting family engagement in EHS services can reduce maternal depressive symptoms over time.