Project 455651

Children living in disadvantaged socioeconomic contexts are at greater risk of developing mental health problems in adulthood. This project examines the role of maternal education -a key determinant of the life conditions in which children evolve- in the pathway leading to mental health problems. While research has shown that low maternal education is associated with offspring mental health, little is known about why such an association exists. Identifying the explanatory mechanisms of this association is crucial to develop effective strategies to dampen the negative intergenerational effects of low maternal education on the offspring. Building on the strengths of 4 large longitudinal cohorts covering birth to adulthood, we will investigate two hypothesized mechanisms putatively linking low maternal education with offspring mental health. The first stipulates that mothers' education level influences the parent-child relationship (e.g. attachment, coercive parenting practices) and in turn offspring mental health. The second posits that mothers with lower education have access to lower quality educational environments (e.g. day-care services/school) for their children, which would increase risk for mental health problems. Data comes from 1) a large sample (N=300,000) linking datasets from multiple administrative sources from birth to adulthood and 2) three prospective cohorts (N=3018; N=2120; N=1037) with information on maternal education, maternal and offspring mental health problems (questionnaires/interviews) and a wide range of familial (e.g. parenting practices) and educational (e.g. daycare, school socioeconomic factors) assessed from childhood to adulthood. My project will highlight the importance of education among women, pinpoint effective strategies to attenuate negative influences of low maternal education and support children with low-SES.