Maternal Depression and Other Possible Barriers to Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS) Enrollment in Baltimore, Maryland

Abstract

This data analysis aimed to determine what relationship, if any, existed between maternal depression and enrollment of children under the age of four in the Baltimore City Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS) programs. Previous research supported a correlation between preventing the delay of cognitive development and increasing readiness to learn with the implementation of early childhood education programs, causing concern for the large number of eligible, non-enrolled children. It was expected that mothers who reported depressive symptoms would be less likely to enroll their child in the EHS/HS programs than mothers who did not report depressive symptoms. Data was obtained from a total of 7,926 Children’s HealthWatch surveys administered to mothers between 1998 and 2015. In addition to maternal depression, eight other variables were analyzed using a Chi-squared analysis within SPSS. An equal number of mothers reporting depressive symptoms (1.0 percent) and reporting no depressive symptoms (1.2 percent) enrolled their child in the EHS/HS programs (Chi-squared = 0.439; p<0.508). The data indicated there was nostatistically significant relationship between EHS/HS enrollment and maternal depressive symptoms. Possible explanations for this finding included lack of random sampling and exclusion of male caregivers.