Co-occurring Stress Trajectories and the Intergenerational Transmission of Internalizing Symptoms in Parent-Adolescent Dyads

• In Event: Diverse Mechanisms in the Development of Internalized Distress and Self-Harm

Abstract

The adolescent transition represents a vulnerable period for the onset of depression and anxiety, particularly among offspring of depressed parents (e.g., Paus et al., 2008; Weissman et al., 2006). Exposure to stress has been proposed as one candidate mechanism by which intergenerational risk for depression is conferred (Goodman & Gotlib, 1999). Stress may mediate associations between parental and youth depression during adolescence (e.g., Hammen et al., 2004, 2012). However, previous research examining stress as a mechanism of intergenerational risk transmission has focused on youth depression, neglecting other outcomes, including anxiety, which commonly co-occur with depression and are prevalent among offspring of depressed parents (Goodman et al., 2011). Moreover, previous work has not accounted for bidirectional relations between parent and adolescent functioning, and between parent and child stress. The present work addressed the following questions: To what extent do trajectories of parent and youth stress co-occur across the adolescent transition? And, what is the role of these co-occurring stress trajectories in mediating prospective, bidirectional associations between parental depression and youth depression and anxiety? Youth (N=583, age 8-16; 56.8% female) and a caregiver were recruited in 3rd, 6th, and 9th grade cohorts and assessed every 3 months for 36-months (13 time points). Youth and parent report of depression were assessed using the Children’s Depression Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory, respectively. Youth reported on social and physical anxiety symptoms using the Multidimensional Anxiety Scale for Children. Parent and youth stress were assessed every three months using the Life Events Inventory and Adolescent Life Events Questionnaire, respectively. Parallel process latent growth curve modeling describing bivariate associations among intercepts and slopes for parent and youth stress, provided good fit to data (CFI=.97; RMSEA=.03). Slope terms describing parent and youth stress trajectories were positively related (B=.18, p=.038); linear change in parental stress associated with same-direction linear change in adolescent stress. Structural regression analyses indicated that parental depression at baseline predicted the intercept of children’s stress (B=.08, p=.03); offspring of more depressed parents reported higher initial levels of stress relative to their peers. No cross-partner effects were observed for the slope of adolescent stress, nor for growth terms describing parental stress trajectories (see Table 1). Children’s initial stress (intercept) predicted their prospective change in depression, physical-, and social- anxiety over time, controlling for baseline levels. These results held across youth gender and development. Mediation analyses (using 1000 bootstrapped samples) indicated indirect effects of parental depression on youth subsequent depression (b[95% CI]=.02[.003, .05]), physical- (b=.03[.004, .06]), and social- anxiety (b=.02[.003, .04]) through the intercept of youth stress (see Figure 1). Findings indicate that longitudinal trajectories of parent and child stress are associated over time across the adolescent transition. Accounting for symptom and stress co-occurrence, mediation analyses demonstrate that youths’ experience of stress represents a key mechanism by which parental depression predicts later changes in youths’ anxiety and depression levels. No effect of child symptoms on parental stress trajectories or depression was observed, indicating that child effects on parental functioning are driven by processes other than youths’ internalizing symptoms.

Authors

• Julianne Griffith, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Presenting Author

• Erin Long, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jami Young, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Benjamin Hankin, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  Non-Presenting Author