How do maternal behaviors affect child mental health in Pakistan? (2024)

Undergraduate: Sampada Acharya

Faculty Advisor: Allison Frost
Department: Epidemiology, Psychology and Neuroscience

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As child mental health issues are gaining global interest, low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) such as Pakistan demonstrate increased vulnerability. Parental involvement has been shown to protect against maladaptive mental health outcomes, but this relationship has not been studied as deeply in LMIC contexts. This study described Pakistani parenting and hypothesized that warmer and less harsh maternal behaviors were associated with better child mental health outcomes. Data was pulled from the Bachpan study: maternal behaviors were measured through the Observation of Mother-Child Interactions (OMCI), while child mental health outcomes were measured through the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), the Spence Child Anxiety Scale (SCAS), and the Affective Reactivity Index (ARI). Our results, informed by descriptive, bivariate correlation, and linear regression analyses, demonstrated a ceiling effect for maternal warmth and a floor effect for harshness. These analyses also did not demonstrate significant associations between maternal behaviors and child mental health outcomes. Providing more knowledge about child mental health outcomes in a South Asian context, these findings diverge from past literature, suggesting a more complex relationship between parenting and child mental health. Strengths of the study include a rich data set, as well as the observational and culturally adaptive nature of the OMCI. Limitations include the mother-reported nature of the child mental health measures, a cross-sectional analysis, and a potential bidirectional relationship between parenting and child mental health. Future directions include investigating this bidirectionality and the potential moderating nature of parenting, as well as further investigating the nuances of Pakistani parenting.