Trajectories of maternal distress from pregnancy through childhood predict adolescent psychopathology

• In Event: Poster Session 08
  In Poster Session: PS 08 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Background and Objectives: It is well documented that maternal mental health is a robust predictor of child development. For example, maternal prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms are strongly associated with risk for psychopathology in offspring, including internalizing difficulties (i.e. depression and anxiety symptoms) and externalizing problems (i.e. antisocial and disruptive behavior; Goodman et al., 2011; Sandman, Buss, Head, & Davis, 2015). Similarly, maternal stress during pregnancy predicts risk for internalizing and externalizing psychopathology through adolescence (Davis et al., 2019; Glynn et al., 2018; Hentges, Graham, Plamondon, Tough, & Madigan, 2019). However, less is known about the longitudinal associations and cumulative impacts of exposures to maternal depression or stress and child mental health. With a unique longitudinal cohort followed prospectively from the prenatal period through adolescence, the current study investigates the distinct contributions of severity and chronicity of both maternal depressive symptoms and perceived stress to adolescent psychopathology using latent growth trajectory models.

Methods: Participants consisted of mother-child dyads participating in a prospective longitudinal study of early life influences on development. Depressive symptoms and perceived stress were evaluated in mothers multiple times both pre and postnatally until the child was an early adolescent. Adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems were assessed by both self-report (Youth Self Report) and maternal report (Child Behavior Checklist) when the adolescents were between ages 10-13 (N = 201). Latent class growth analyses were conducted to determine whether there were distinct groups of trajectories of maternal depressive and perceived stress symptoms from pregnancy through postpartum, and also whether prenatal profiles uniquely predicted adolescent mental health.

Results: The latent growth models revealed that, for both depression and stress, the largest trajectory group (typical group) consisted of mothers displaying low and stable levels of symptoms over time (see Figure 1). Furthermore, adolescents of mothers in these typical trajectory groups exhibited the lowest levels of internalizing and externalizing symptoms compared to adolescents with mothers belonging to atypical trajectory groups (see Figure 2). Analyses further revealed that membership in a typical group (i.e. stable and low) during pregnancy was associated with fewer adolescent mental health symptoms, even after accounting for postnatal maternal mental health.

Discussion: This study indicates that children exposed to atypical trajectories of maternal depression and stress are at greater risk for internalizing and externalizing symptoms than children of mothers with typical depression and stress trajectories. Examination of latent trajectories of maternal mental health symptoms over multiple developmental epochs can provide additional insight into the effects of cumulative exposures during development on child psychopathology.

Authors

• Natasha Bailey, University of Virginia - Charlottesville
  Presenting Author

• Jessica Irwin
  Non-Presenting Author

• Elysia Davis, University of Denver
  Non-Presenting Author

• Curt Sandman, University of California, Irvine
  Non-Presenting Author

• Laura Glynn, Chapman University
  Non-Presenting Author