Does Maternal Depression Undermine Childhood Cognitive Development? Evidence from the Young Lives Survey in Peru

Maria Magdalena Bendini and Lelys Dinarte Diaz

No 9479, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: This paper studies the effect of maternal depression on early childhood cognition in Peru. The identification strategy exploits variation in exposure to exogenous shocks during early life to instrument for maternal depression. The results suggest that maternal depression is detrimental to the child's vocabulary at age five. Although the effects fade out by age eight, early vocabulary gaps can undermine other development outcomes. The effects do not vary by maternal education, but they are significant only for children living in disadvantaged households. The presence of a partner worsens the effect of maternal depression on vocabulary development, and this effect is driven by households with partners who drink heavily.

Keywords: Health Care Services Industry; Mental Health; Educational Sciences; Early Childhood Development; Nutrition; Early Child and Children's Health; Reproductive Health; Children and Youth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-11-24
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-neu
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Journal Article: Does Maternal Depression Undermine Childhood Cognitive Development? Evidence from the Young Lives Survey in Peru (2020)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:9479

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