Mental health decline in American mothers in new study

According to a new study from Columbia University’s Postal School of Public Health, the decline in mental health in the United States has dropped sharply over the past eight years, with the percentage of mental health reportedly falling from 38% in 2016 to 26% in 2023.

The study, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, analyzed data from nearly 200,000 mothers and revealed a crisis that began in the years before the Covid-19 outbreak.

Regarding most people, the proportion of mothers who viewed mental health as fair or poor increased by 3.5 percentage points during the study period, indicating a 63.6% increase over baseline levels. Physical health has also declined, although less obvious, excellent physical health has dropped from 28% to 24%.

Pandemic Crisis

“While maternal morbidity and mortality rates are high, national data on the health status of mothers after pregnancy, as well as the first year of postpartum,” said Dr. Jamie Dao, assistant professor of health policy and management at Columbia Postal College and lead author of the study.

The study examined 198,417 mothers who participated in the National Child Health Survey, a nationally representative annual survey. The results show that the decline in mental health began before 2020, although the pandemic has indeed accelerated some trends.

Using complex statistical analysis, researchers found that less than half of mental health deficiencies could be attributed to the 19.19 pandemic. The decline represents a wider, ongoing crisis affecting American families and requires urgent attention.

The father was also affected, but there were different effects

The study also examined fathers’ health trends, revealing parallel but less severe declines. Among fathers, excellent physical health dropped from 30% to 26.4%, while changes in mental health were less obvious. However, fathers’ physical and mental health consistently reported better than mothers throughout all years of the study.

In 2023, 8.5% of mothers reported having mental health equity or bad fathers, while fathers had only 4.5% of fathers, an almost one-to-one difference, highlighting the disproportionate burden on mothers.

Socio-economic differences are profound

The health crisis has not affected all mothers equally. The study reveals distinct differences based on education, family structure and insurance status. Single mothers, less educated people and families without Medicaid or insurance have significantly higher rates of mental and physical health.

It is worth noting that differences in physical health are more obvious than differences in mental health. Compared with college graduates, mothers who receive high school education have a 3.7-fold higher chance of physical health and 1.9-fold higher chance of mental health.

Key research results:

• Starting from 2016-2023, mothers’ excellent mental health has dropped by 12.4 percentage points
• Equity/poority in mental health increased by 63.6% during the study period
• Mental health decline begins with Covid-19-19
• Single mothers and less educated people have the highest health status
• Fathers’ health outcomes are always better than mothers in all years

Generational influence

The meaning goes far beyond the mother himself. Poor maternal mental health can have a chain reaction that affects the entire family and community for generations.

“In particular, maternal emotional disorders can directly affect the long-term effects of children directly by increasing the chances of exposure to concurrent risks such as parental medication use and reduced family resources,” Daw explained.

Parents’ mental health status is associated with adverse birth outcomes, delayed development and an increase in children’s mental health problems. They can also contribute to social risk factors, including exposure to substance abuse, intimate partner violence, and other adverse childhood experiences.

A wider health crisis

This study is particularly important, it reveals the impact of people on mental health crises. The study shows that between 2016 and 2023, the vulnerable population increased significantly: single-parent families rose from 20.9% to 22.7%, while the proportion of mothers aged 40 and older jumped from 42.9% to 49.0%.

These demographic changes suggest that mental health crises are occurring with shifts in family structures as well as delayed fertility patterns, which may put additional stress on modern parents. The convergence of these trends represents a complex challenge that requires multiple solutions.

Beyond the clinic wall

The findings of the study support a recent claim that rising maternal mortality may be “canary in coal mines” to illustrate women’s health more broadly. According to recent data, mental health has become the leading cause of pregnancy-related in the United States, accounting for nearly a quarter of all such deaths.

“Our results highlight the trend of worsening mental health among parenting women, a key goal to improve maternal and child health in the United States.” “We found that mothers’ health is always worse than fathers, suggesting that mothers may need to take more consideration and attention in policies designed to support parents’ health, especially mental health.”

Researchers stress that solving this crisis requires understanding its root causes. Leading theories include limited mental health care, social isolation, drug use disorders, and wider social stressors such as inflation, income inequality, racism, gun violence, and climate change.

Call for action

The timing of this study is increasingly consistent with the country’s focus on parents’ mental health. In August 2024, American surgeons released a consultation titled “Parents Under Stress” that sees parents’ mental health as a key public health challenge that needs immediate national attention.

The Colombian study is particularly surprising how it demonstrates how available data resources can be used to improve maternal health monitoring. The researchers suggest that adding validated mental health screening tools to national surveys can enhance public health monitoring capabilities.

This study provides clear goals for interventions as policy makers cope with rising health care costs and declining population health. This study highlights that research supporting maternal mental health is not just to help individual women, but to protect the well-being of the entire family and future generations.

The question now is whether the United States will respond to this ongoing evidence with the urgency and resources that millions of struggling mothers and their children desperately need.