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Table 1 Characteristics of mothers and children who participated in the CPC-8 study

From: Early childhood risk and resilience factors for behavioural and emotional problems in middle childhood

Characteristic

Total sample (N = 450) n (%)

Demographics

Maternal age*

 

 Mean (SD)

38.42 (4.478)

Marital status*

 

 Married/common-law

421 (93.6)

 Single, divorced, or separated

29 (6.4)

Education*

 

 Completed post-secondary

334 (74.2)

 Less than post-secondary

116 (25.8)

Household income*

 

 Less than $60,000

52 (11.6)

 $60,000 or more

397 (88.4)

Ethnicity**

 

 White/Caucasian

394 (87.6)

 Other

56 (12.4)

Number of children in household*

 

 One to two children

298 (66.2)

 Three or more children

152 (33.8)

History of demographic risk: less than 25 years old, less than $40,000 income, single, high school education or less, or moved 2 or more times in the past 2 years**

 

 Yes

55 (12.2)

 No

395 (87.8)

Current demographic risk: less than $40,000 income, single, or food/expense instability*

 

 Yes

110 (24.5)

 No

339 (75.5)

Child Characteristics

Gender**

 

 Girl

228 (52.2)

 Boy

209 (47.8)

Preterm infant**

 

 Yes

22 (5.0)

 No

414 (95.0)

General health*

 

 Excellent, very good, or good

441 (98.2)

 Fair or poor

8 (1.8)

BMI status*

 

 Underweight

39 (9.7)

 Healthy

297 (74.1)

 Overweight/obese

65 (16.2)

Number of health problems as told by health professional*

 

 No health problems

278 (61.8)

 At least one health problem

172 (38.2)

High externalizing behaviour (scored ≥ 80th percentile)*

 

 Yes

114 (25.6)

 No

332 (74.4)

High internalizing behaviour (scored ≥ 80th percentile)*

 

 Yes

132 (29.5)

 No

315 (70.5)

Low prosocial behaviour (scored ≤ 20th percentile)*

 

 Yes

116 (25.9)

 No

332 (74.1)

Referral to at least one of early intervention program, speech or language pathologist, developmental pediatrician, psychologist, physiotherapist, or dietician at 3 years or 5 years**

 

 Yes

123 (27.3)

 No

327 (72.7)

PEDS Path A at 3 years or 5 years of age**

 

 Yes

83 (21.8)

 No

297 (78.2)

Maternal Characteristics

History of mental health risk: abuse (prior to pregnancy, during pregnancy, 6–8 weeks postpartum), depression (prior to pregnancy), suicide (prior to pregnancy), poor social support (first trimester), poor network orientation (first trimester), poor emotional health (first trimester)**

 

 Yes

211 (46.9)

 No

239 (53.1)

Mental health risk at CPC3Year: abuse, depression (6+ months postpartum), poor social support, poor emotional health**

 

 Yes

81 (18.0)

 No

369 (82.0)

Current mental health risk: low social support, poor emotional health, or unstable spouse/partner events in the past 12 months*

 

 Yes

138 (31.2)

 No

305 (68.8)

Low positive parenting interaction (scored ≤ 20th percentile)*

 

 Yes

128 (28.4)

 No

322 (71.6)

Low social support (scored <15th percentile)*

 

 Yes

48 (10.7)

 No

399 (89.3)

Emotional health in past 6 months*

 

 Excellent, very good, or good

382 (84.9)

 Fair or poor

68 (15.1)

Unstable events that occurred during the past 12 months to mother or spouse/partner*

 

 None to two events

370 (83.5)

 Three or more events

73 (16.5)

  1. *variable assessed at current (middle childhood) assessment time point.
  2. **variable assessed at previous time points.