Mental Health Treatment in the Context of Welfare Reform Policy: An Experimental Examination of the Effects of Maternal Depression on Children and Youth

How and when do changes in mothers’ depression and stress affect the psychological and physiological development of children and adolescents in low-income families? How can we create welfare policy that aids clinically depressed mothers and fosters resilience among children who are at high risk due to their parents’ illness? This William T. Grant Scholar developed a set of studies to examine the changes in maternal depression brought about by differing policy approaches for low-income parents and their effects on children. The first study addressed the role of welfare and employment policies, while the second addressed the role of mental health treatment strategies. In the first study, Morris found that certain frontline practices of welfare offices were associated with increases in depression for parents of preschool-age children. In the second study, Morris examined the effects of an evidence-based telephonic care management model on parents’ depression and outcomes for youth, including youth cognitive and behavior outcomes, social skills, and physiology. At the 18-month follow-up, Morris found that the intervention program increased the parents’ use of mental health services but had relatively weak effects on parents’ depression, and likewise, on outcomes for children. Alongside this empirical research, Morris conducted theoretical work leveraging advances in neuroscience to expand theoretical models about the relation between stress and physical and mental health. This work highlights the specific circuitry of the brain that is vulnerable to stress and the timing of that vulnerability in terms of children’s development, in order to inform intervention strategies aimed at families and children at risk.