Maternal depressive symptoms and young people's higher education participation and choice of university: Evidence from a longitudinal cohort study

Bowman, Sally, Morris, Tim T., Dickson, Matt, Rice, Frances ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9484-1729, Howe, Laura D. and 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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Medicine MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG)
Publisher:	Elsevier
ISSN:	0165-0327
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	24 October 2023
Date of Acceptance:	9 October 2023
Last Modified:	27 Oct 2023 09:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/163449

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