Bidirectional and Transaction Associations between Maternal Depression, Hostile Parenting, and Child Internalizing Symptoms

• In Event: Parenting Practices as Mechanisms for Transmission of Maternal Risk Factors and Child Psychological Outcomes

Abstract

Background: Maternal depression is a recognized public health concern. Research suggests a risk of intergenerational transmission from mother to child – children of mothers with depression are three times as likely to suffer from depression, anxiety, or substance use problems than children who were not exposed to maternal depression (Weissman et al., 2006). Social transmission models suggest that maternal depression impacts child mental health through its spill-over onto parent-infant interactions and relations (Downey & Coyne, 1990; Goodman & Gotlib, 1999). The majority of this research has exclusively examined parent-driven models, with relatively little attention paid to the reciprocal effects between maternal and child characteristics. This study uses a longitudinal pregnancy cohort of 1,992 mother-child dyads to examine the bi-directional and transactional processes between maternal depression, parenting, and child emotional problems from pregnancy to child age 5. We also examined whether child effortful control, a core temperament domain related to self-regulation, moderated the effects.
Methods: Mothers reported on their depressive symptoms using well-established screening tools during their second trimester of pregnancy, at 4 months postpartum and at child age 3 and 5 years. Hostile parenting behaviors were assessed through maternal self-report at 4 months, 3 years, and 5 years. Finally, mothers reported on their children’s internalizing symptoms at 3 and 5 years. Effortful control was assessed at 3 years with the Child Behavior Questionnaire. Covariates included child sex, maternal education, family income, and child gestational age. A fully-identified cross-lag path model was specified to examine the bidirectional relationships between maternal depression, hostile parenting, and child internalizing problems.
Results: Significant cross-lag effects between maternal depression and subsequent hostile parenting behaviors were observed. Hostile parenting at age 3, in turn, predicted increased child internalizing problems at age 5 (see Figure 1). The indirect effects between prenatal and postpartum maternal depression and child internalizing problems through hostile parenting was significant. Child emotional problems at age 3 predicted subsequent increased hostile parenting behaviors, but not maternal depressive symptoms. Additional multi-group moderator analyses revealed that the indirect effect between postpartum maternal depression and child internalizing through hostile parenting was only significant for children low in effortful control (see Figure 2).
Conclusions: Hostile parenting is a potential intermediary mechanism explaining the intergenerational transmission of maternal depression to child internalizing problems. However, even with the inclusion of parenting in the model, maternal depression continued to exert unique independent effects on subsequent child internalizing symptoms, suggesting that other factors, not tested herein, play a role in this transmission (e.g., genetic predispositions). There was support for child-driven effects, as child emotional problems predicted subsequent hostile parenting, but not maternal depressive symptoms. In addition, the indirect effect between postpartum depression, hostile parenting at age 3, and child internalizing symptoms at age 5 was only significant for children low in effortful control. Thus, mothers experiencing psychological distress may find it particularly hard to regulate their affect and behavior when parenting children low in effortful control. Results highlight the need for considering family-level processes, including parenting difficulties and child characteristics, when treating maternal depression.

Authors

• Rochelle F. Hentges, University of Calgary
  Presenting Author

• Susan A Graham, University of Calgary (U of C)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Andre Plamondon, Université Laval
  Non-Presenting Author

• Suzanne Tough, University of Calgary (U of C)
  Non-Presenting Author

• Sheri Madigan, University of Calgary (U of C)
  Non-Presenting Author