According to a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who looked at 262-black mothers and their children, a mother’s depression only serves to worsen asthma symptoms in her children. They also observed severely depressed mothers often had children with frequent asthma attacks. In comparison, women who were less depressed had children with fewer asthmatic symptoms.

The research team from Johns Hopkins Children’s Centre studied black mothers and their children, mainly because black children more than any other ethnic group suffer excessively from asthma, including being seen more often in the emergency room.

On the other hand, they also noted it was not necessary for children with less asthma to have mothers with less depression. In conclusion, based on these observations, depression could be an independent risk factor able to forecast the severity of asthma in a child, researchers say.

Depression is known to profoundly affect mental health concentration, cause fatigue and diminish concentration, making a mother ineffective in effectively managing her child’s asthma. A common respiratory ailment, asthma worsens during winter months, with some children requiring daily treatments and multiple doctor visits.

A simple observational study, other factors, such as, the economy, finances, physical health, obesity or lack of transport for African Americans have not been looked at.

The study can be viewed online on the Journal of Pediatric Psychology Nov 2009.