Data on maternal depression (PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) will be used to estimate effect size for a future large-scale RCT and to assess preliminary mean change in variables of interest across assessment timepoints. The PHQ-9 includes [35 (link)] nine items which will ask mothers the severity of their depressive symptoms during the past 2 weeks. The PHQ-9 has high internal consistency (α = 0.88) [49 (link)]. Anxiety symptom severity will be assessed using the GAD-7, a seven-item measure which will ask mothers their degree of anxiety symptoms over the past 2 weeks. The GAD-7 has excellent internal consistency (α = 0.92) [36 (link)]. Items on both scales are scored on a 4-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (“Not at all”) to 3 (“Nearly every day”) where higher summative scores suggest more problematic symptoms.
Additional questionnaires will assess maternal mental health (i.e., Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System [PROMIS] Anger [PROMIS-A] [50 (link)] and Sleep Disturbance [PROMIS-SD] [51 (link)] subscales, Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test [AUDIT] [52 ] Cannabis use Disorder Identification Test – Revised [CUDIT-R] [53 (link)], Substance Use Motives Measure—Coping Subscales [SUMM] [54 (link)], and Depression Severity Index—Suicidality Subscale [DSI-SS] [43 (link)]), parenting (i.e., Parenting Stress Index – Short Form [PSI-SF] [40 (link)], Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy [PMP S-E] [55 (link)], and the Parenting Scale—Overreactivity Subscale [56 ], Couples Satisfaction Inventory 4-Item [CSI-4] [57 (link)]), and child outcomes (i.e., Ages and Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional Challenges – 2 [ASQ:SE-2] [58 ], Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory [PedsQL] [59 (link)], and Infant Behavior Questionnaire – Revised – Very Short Form—Effortful Control Subscale [IBQ-R-VS] [60 (link)]).
Data on sociodemographic characteristics will be collected in the pre- and/or post-intervention questionnaires including (a) maternal demographics (e.g., age, marital status, highest level of education, ethnicity, employment, depression persistence, anxiety persistence), (b) child demographics (e.g., child sex, age of child), and (c) household demographics (e.g., number of adults and children in the household, annual household income, community type).
Other variables known to impact adult mental health and child development will be collected including the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Questionnaire, the author-compiled Recent Stressful Experiences Questionnaire (RSE; developed based on recommendations from the JPB research network on toxic stress at Harvard’s Center on the Developing Child) [61 ], and the author-compiled Emergency Health and Social Service Utilization Questionnaire.
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