It was already known that maternal depression can impact young people’s educational attainment in secondary school, mental health, and socio-emotional development. However, it was not known how maternal depression impacts young people going to university, which can effect a person’s earnings and socioeconomic circumstances over their lifetime.

 The study investigated whether maternal depression was related to whether a young person studied at university, how far they moved for university, and the reasons for choosing a particular university. The research team also explored how the young person’s own mental health, sense of control over events in their life (known as locus of control), and exam results in their teenage years related to their decision to study at university. 

They found that for each questionnaire the mother reported experiencing elevated symptoms of depression in the young person’s lifetime, the young person was 12% less likely to have studied at university, even after considering socioeconomic factors. The researchers also found that this effect was explained by differences in the young people’s exam results in secondary school at 16, and to a lesser extent their locus of control at 16, suggesting targets for intervention. 

These findings suggest that to reduce long-term inequalities related to maternal depression, interventions could focus on improving educational outcomes in secondary school for young people affected by maternal depression. 

Read the full University of Bristol news item

‘Maternal depressive symptoms and young people's higher education participation and choice of university: Evidence from a longitudinal cohort study’ by Sally Bowman, Tim Morris, Matt Dickson, Frances Rice, Laura D. Howe, Amanda M. Hughes in Journal of Affective Disorders [open access]