Child Death and Mothers' Subsequent Mental Health in a High-Mortality African Community
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4120866 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E Smith-Greenaway (0000-0001-8517-8155, University of Southern California), Abigail Weitzman (0000-0001-6843-3820, The University of Texas at Austin), Eric Lungu (Partners In Health) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 1117-1147 |
| Publication date | 2024-12-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Population and Development Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0098-7921 • E-ISSN: 1728-4457 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/padr.12682 |
| PMID | 39831001 |
| OpenAlex | W4404665851 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 80 |
Despite declines in child mortality rates, experiencing a child death remains a common feature of motherhood in many contemporary African populations. Yet, we lack population insights into the consequences of child death for mothers' well-being in the high-mortality regions where it concentrates. Contrasting an extensive psychology literature on the severe and long-lasting consequences of child death for parents in low-mortality settings, a long-standing thesis in multiple social science literature is that the normativity of child death in high-mortality settings can lead to a numbing effect-muting parents' reactions to child loss. Yet, select anthropological accounts challenge this thesis, arguing instead that child death can also bear notable consequences for bereaved parents in communities where it is common. This study brings population data to bear, analyzing two representative samples of women in Balaka, Malawi, to examine if child death has measurable mental health consequences for mothers, including elevated and/or worsening depressive symptoms. Further, the study explores the potential influence of children's near-death experiences on mothers. The results offer evidence that child loss-and the ever-present threat of it-are underappreciated drivers of women's poor mental health, and overall well-being
Child mortality · Environmental health · Mental health · Population · Psychiatry · Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health · Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Psychology
Epidemiology of Spirit Possession Among the Luvale of Zambia
Death Without Weeping
Predictors of grief following the death of one's child
Global, regional, and national levels and trends in under-5 mortality between 1990 and 2015, with scenario-based projections to 2030
The Patient Health Questionnaire Somatic, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptom Scales
Health outcomes of bereavement
No health without mental health
The Lancet Psychiatry Commission on intimate partner violence and mental health
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The Consequences of Unintended Pregnancy for Maternal and Child Health in Rural India
Adolescent perinatal mental health in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa
The Dual Process Model of Coping With Bereavement
The impact of infant and child death on subsequent fertility in Ethiopia
Cross-cultural aspects of bereavement. I
The Marital Implications of Bereavement
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The Demography of Mental Health Among Mature Adults in a Low-Income, High-HIV-Prevalence Context
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Differential Child Care in Three Tibetan Communities
The Proximate Determinants of Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa
Women's health decline following (some) unintended births
The (Re)negotiation of Illness Diagnoses and Responsibility for Child Death in Rural Mali
Culture, Scarcity, and Maternal Thinking
Tired of Weeping
Suffering Peacefully
Grief as Social Fact
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |