Depression among child-care providers is associated with problems such as aggression and sadness in the young children they care for, in part because these adults create a poor quality child-care environment, according to a report published this spring in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
The study sample was 761 children from urban, low-income backgrounds in 15 cities who were 3 years old in the late 1990s. Researchers surveyed the children’s teachers and observed their child-care environments. The educators also completed a survey rating their depressed mood during the last two weeks.
The report showed a direct relationship between teacher depression and “externalizing” problems in children, such as anger and aggression, as well as “internalizing” problems, such as anxiety, sadness or withdrawal. Both types of problems were reported by teachers, but not by the students’ mothers.
