Mental health concerns affect two-thirds of young mothers in Canadian study
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About 64% of young mothers reported at least one mental health problem and 37% had reported experiencing more than one, according to the results from a study conducted in Canada.
Ryan Van Lieshout, MD, PhD, FRCPC, Canadian research chair in the perinatal programming of mental disorders at McMaster University, and colleagues enrolled 450 mothers aged younger than 21 years from rural central-west Ontario and 100 “comparison” mothers aged older than 21 years on the Young Mothers Health Study. They age-matched the young mothers and compared them with 15- and 17-year-old females without children (n = 630) from the 2014 Ontario Child Health Study.
Lieshout and colleagues found that young mothers had fewer years of education, a lower average household income and were more likely to be living with their parents. Young mothers also were less likely to be married, to live with a partner, to be employed and more likely to live in subsidized housing.
According to the study, young mothers’ odds of having at least one mental disorder were more than 3.5 times higher than those of older mothers (OR = 3.61, 95% CI, 2.27-5.75). The odds of having a psychiatric disorder were nearly four times higher (OR = 3.76, 95% CI, 2.06 to 6.85).
“These problems are not restricted to depression, as young mothers have substantially higher rates of anxiety disorders, ADHD, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder,” Lieshout said.
Before conducting the study, Lieshout said the researchers believed that mental health risks would be higher in young mothers — especially for depression — but they did not anticipate that anxiety disorders would be more likely in young mothers.
“That they all lived in Canada, where health care is universally available, made the high rates of current psychiatric problems all the more concerning,” he said. “The data further highlight that more needs to be done to detect these problems in young mothers and engage them in treatment.”
Lieshout saidthe study’s biggest limitation was not being able to report on treatment, engagement and use of care for younger mothers. He hopes to further examine the data to gain a better understanding of who is getting treatment and who is not.
“We hope that this information can be used to help develop broad and inclusive partnerships between the mental health sector, the educational system and social services to optimize the mental health of these women and their families,” he said. – by Ken Downey Jr.
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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