Bowman, Sally;
Morris, Tim T;
Dickson, Matt;
Rice, Frances;
Howe, Laura D;
Hughes, Amanda M;
(2024)
Maternal depressive symptoms and young people's higher education participation and choice of university: Evidence from a longitudinal cohort study.
Journal of Affective Disorders
, 344
pp. 339-346.
10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.061.
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Abstract
Background: Participation in higher education has significant and long-lasting consequences for people's socioeconomic trajectories. Maternal depression is linked to poorer educational achievement for children in school, but its impact on university attendance is unclear. // Methods: In an English longitudinal cohort study (N = 8952), we explore whether young people whose mothers experienced elevated depressive symptoms are less likely to attend university, and the role of potential mediators in the young person: educational achievement in school, depressive symptoms, and locus of control. We also examine whether maternal depressive symptoms influence young people's choice of university, and non-attendees' reasons for not participating in higher education. // Results: Young people whose mothers experienced more recurrent depressive symptoms were less likely to attend university (OR = 0.88, CI = 0.82,0.94, p < 0.001) per occasion of elevated maternal depressive symptoms) after adjusting for confounders. Mediation analysis indicated this was largely explained by educational achievement in school (e.g., 82.7 % mediated by age 16 achievement) and locus of control at 16. There was mixed evidence for an impact on choice of university. For participants who did not study at university, maternal depressive symptoms were linked to stating as a reason having had other priorities to do with family or children (OR: 1.17, CI = 1.02,1.35). // Limitations: Lack of data on the other parent's depression, loss to follow-up, possibly selective non-response. // Conclusions: Young people whose mothers experience elevated depressive symptoms on multiple occasions are less likely to participate in higher education; educational achievement in secondary school, but not the young people's own depressive symptoms, substantially mediated the effect.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Maternal depressive symptoms and young people's higher education participation and choice of university: Evidence from a longitudinal cohort study |
| Location: | Netherlands |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.061 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.10.061 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
| Keywords: | Maternal depression; Educational attainment; Higher education; Locus of control; Intergenerational; ALSPAC |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Social Research Institute > IOE - Centre for Longitudinal Studies |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10179655 |
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