TY - JOUR T1 - A longitudinal study of maternal depression and child maltreatment in a national sample of families investigated by child protective services AU - Conron KJ, Beardslee W, Koenen KC, Buka SL, Gortmaker SL Y1 - 2009/10/05 N1 - 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.176 JO - Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine SP - 922 EP - 930 VL - 163 IS - 10 N2 - Objective  To assess whether a change in depression predicts a mother's change in maltreatment.Design  Observational, repeated measures study.Setting  National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-being, 1999 to 2004.Participants  Mothers who retained custody of a child aged 0 to 15 years following a maltreatment investigation and completed at least 2 of 3 surveys (n = 2386).Main Exposure  Change in depression status between baseline and 18- and 36-month follow-ups, assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview Short Form.Main Outcome Measures  Change in psychological aggression, physical assault, and neglect between baseline and 18- and 36-month follow-ups, assessed with the Conflict Tactics Scale Parent-Child version.Results  One-third (35.5%) of mothers experienced onset or remission of depression. Onset of depression was associated with an increase of 2.3 (95% confidence interval, 0.2-4.4) psychologically aggressive acts in an average 12-month period, but was not statistically significantly associated with change in physical assault or neglect.Conclusion  Depression is positively associated with maternal perpetration of psychological aggression in high-risk families. SN - 1072-4710 M3 - doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.176 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.176 ER -