Young Mothers Suffer More Depression

"Young mums can be very vulnerable, and it is clear from these results that they need much more support, not only after the birth, but before as well," said Cerith Waters of Cardiff University, who presented the study's findings at a British Psychological Society conference at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool.

 "Programs aimed at helping young mothers need to be multifaceted, and they need to begin during pregnancy in order to address both the mother's and the child's needs." In the so-called South London Child Development Study, which focused on 176 families and kept track of children's development over an 11-year period, the families were divided into three groups, according to when the women birthed their first child.

There were 31 teenage mothers (aged 16 to 19), 56 early-20s mothers (aged 20 to 22), and 89 older mothers (aged 23 to 38). The results of the research indicated that 41.9 percent of teenage mothers experienced depression during pregnancy, compared to 35.7 percent of those in their early 20s and 18 percent of women in the group aged 23 to 38.

 Additionally, the study found that 19.4 percent of children born to teenage mothers suffered from an emotional disorder by age 11, as did 23.2 percent of children of early-20s mothers and 9 percent of children of older mothers.

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