Child-related factors associated with depressive symptoms among mothers of school-going children in urban Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to identify the child-related factors associated with depressive symptoms among mothers of school-going children in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. Methods The study followed a cross-sectional design and was conducted between June and December 2019 among mothers of school-going children from Dhaka City, Bangladesh. A multistage sampling technique was adopted, and a total of 324 mothers of school-going children studying in the same school for at least six months were selected. Depressive symptoms of mothers were measured using a 20-item Self-Rating Depression Scale weighted to 100 percent, with 25–49 categorized as no depression and ≥ 50 as having depression. A binary logistic regression model was executed to identify the child-related factors associated with depressive symptoms among mothers. All statistical analyses were performed using the statistical software, Stata (Version 14.0). Results More than half of the participants (54.3%) were aged 40 years or above and had up to HSC level education (52.5%). The majority of the participants were homemakers (67.0%), mothers of a girl child (53.1%), and had a family income of 50,000 BDT or more (52.8%). Adjusted analyses revealed that the mother’s depressive symptoms were associated with their child’s frequent complaints of headaches or stomach aches (aOR = 13.19, 95% CI 3.03–57.37), having an injury (aOR = 4.05, 95% CI 1.44–11.41), and unfriendly relationship with mothers (aOR = 21.46, 95% CI 5.04–91.28). Conclusion The present study highlighted several child-related factors that are associated with depressive symptoms among mothers that need to be considered while designing any intervention to address depressive symptoms among mothers of school-going children. It is also important to counsel mothers and fathers of the children about the importance of having a sound mother-child relationship while addressing depressive symptoms among mothers.