Effects of economic pressure and social support on parental depression and Head Start children’s behavioral problems

Abstract

The importance of Head Start cannot be understated. This federal program, created out of necessity to address the disparities found in low-income families, has greatly expanded their focus to include the families of the attending children. As low-income families face many stressors, this study seeks to examine how social support could buffer parents from experiencing depression and how it may buffer children from experiencing externalizing behavioral problems. This study aimed to look at the association between parental depression and the interaction of economic pressure by total social support. I hypothesized that parents who live under conditions of high economic pressure and experience higher levels of social support will report lower levels of depressive symptoms. I further expect that children living in the same conditions will experience lower levels of externalizing behavioral problems. This study was conducted as a secondary analysis using a sample (n = 156) children attending Head Start and (n = 134) of their caregivers. Pearson correlations and linear regression models were used in order to test the hypothesis. I created an interaction variable of economic pressure and total social support to test our hypothesis. Results indicated that high economic pressure is associated with higher parental depression, while higher social support was associated with lower parental depression. The interaction between economic pressure and social support, unexpectedly, was not significant. Additionally, child externalizing behavioral problems was not predicted by economic pressure or social support or their interaction. These results highlight the importance of social support and further contributes to the growing literature on Head Start families