Developmental Cascade Models linking Multiple Familial Risks, Parenting, and Internalizing Problems: A 17-year Longitudinal Study

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

Abstract

Internalizing problems, such as depression and anxiety, are some of the most common and burdensome forms of psychological distress that adolescents and young adults experience (Petersen et al., 2018). Thus, it is important to understand developmental pathways that lead to internalizing problems in emerging adulthood. In this study, we used a developmental psychopathology framework to identify complex mechanisms pertaining to the development and maintenance of internalizing problems by considering multiple domains of risk factors across time. Our aim was to examine common and differential cascading pathways leading to depression and anxiety in emerging adulthood by encompassing environmental (i.e., multiple family risk), parental (i.e., parenting quality), and child (i.e., childhood and adolescence internalizing behaviors) characteristics spanning ages 3 to 19 and including both depression and anxiety in the same model.
Participants were 235 children and their families. Data were collected at 3, 6, 10, and 19 years of child age, using multiple informants and assessment contexts. Specifically, child internalizing behaviors were rated by mothers at 3 and 10 years of child’s age and by children at 19 years, using Child Behavior Checklist 2-3 (CBCL 2-3; Achenbach, 1992), CBCL 3-18 (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2001), and Youth Self Report 11-18 (YSR 11-18; Achenbach, 1991), respectively. Familial risk at 3 years was measured by a multiple familial risk index which consists of domains of economic and social resources (low income; perceived social isolation), family resources (marital aggression, total family functioning), and maternal resources (marital status, maternal mental health) (Gach et al., 2018). Parenting quality at 6 years was rated by using four different measurements: mother’s negative appraisals of child behavior (Olson et al., 1982), mother’s self-perceived caregiving efficacy (Abidin & Abidin, 1990), parental corporal punishment (Dodge, Pettit, & Bates, 1994), and parental warm responsiveness (Power, 2002).
Structural equation models (Figure) indicated differential developmental pathways between depression and anxiety from early childhood to emerging adulthood. Specifically, higher levels of multiple familial risk and internalizing behaviors at 3 years were associated with parenting quality at 6 years, which was predictive of increased levels of depression at 19 years. On the other hand, higher levels of internalizing behaviors at 3 years were related to higher levels of anxiety at 19 years, mediated by higher internalizing behaviors at age 10.
Our findings highlight the importance of both contextual risk and child vulnerability during early childhood as starting points for cascading effects that are associated with depression and anxiety over time. Moreover, it is notable that depression and anxiety in emerging adulthood were associated with different mediators during early adolescence, suggesting unique risk processes between the two disorders. Our findings provide a nuanced picture of developmental pathways leading to internalizing problems from early childhood through emerging adulthood. Moreover, our study highlights the importance of early identification and prevention by disrupting cascading pathways leading to later depression and anxiety.

Authors

• Sujin Lee, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author

• Rachel A Bernstein, National Institute of Mental Health
  Non-Presenting Author

• Alexis Vatterott, University of Michigan
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheryl L Olson, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Non-Presenting Author