Paternal and Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Sensitivity: Links with Trajectories of Socioemotional Problems in Toddlerhood

• In Event: Enhancing Our Understanding of Risk Factors of Socioemotional Problems Through Cutting-Edge Methodological and Biopsychosocial Approaches

Abstract

A growing number of studies suggest that parental mental health and sensitivity to child needs are associated with better child socioemotional outcomes (Britto et al., 2017; Spry et al., 2020). However, studies considering both paternal and maternal factors simultaneously and their interactions are still needed to correctly identify each parent’s true contributions to child functioning (Cabrera et al., 2018). Moreover, studies on toddlers’ socioemotional problems are scarce and thus, parental predictors of these problems remain poorly understood. The present longitudinal study aimed to investigate the unique associations between fathers’ and mothers’ sensitivity and depressive symptoms and their interactions in the prediction of patterns of growth in socioemotional problems during toddlerhood. Consistent with previous studies (Rodrigues et al., 2021; Spry et al., 2020), higher levels of paternal and maternal sensitivity and lower levels of parental and maternal depressive symptoms were expected to be uniquely associated with fewer socioemotional problems in toddlers.

The sample consisted of 140 two-parent families who were assessed when infants were 12, 18, and 24 months of age. At 12 months, both parents’ sensitivity was measured by observing and rating father-child and mother-child interactions during a 90-minute home visit using a shortened version of the Maternal Behavior Q-set (Tarabulsy et al., 2009). 25% of the dyads were double-coded and interrater agreement was excellent for each parent (ICCs > .80). Parental depressive symptoms were reported by both parents in the month following the visit using the Beck Depression Inventory-II (Beck et al., 1996). At 12, 18, and 24 months, maternal and paternal perceptions of toddler socioemotional problems were assessed individually using the Brief Infant-Toddler Social Emotional Assessment (Briggs-Gowan et al., 2004), and then aggregated to mitigate the influence of respondent bias.

Correlational analyses were first conducted to examine the relations among variables (see Table 1). Multilevel growth curve analyses were next performed (see Table 2) and revealed that paternal sensitivity and paternal and maternal depressive symptoms predicted the initial status of infants’ socioemotional problems, but not the rate of change. Thus, infants with more sensitive fathers and less depressed parents showed persistently fewer socioemotional problems across time. No association was found between maternal sensitivity and children’s socioemotional problems. However, an interaction was observed between mothers’ depressive symptoms and fathers’ sensitivity. The association between maternal depressive symptoms and child socioemotional problems at baseline was weaker for children of more sensitive fathers (b = .290, p < .001) compared to children of less sensitive fathers (b = .591, p < .001). Hence, infants with more depressed mothers who had more sensitive fathers showed fewer socioemotional problems at 12 months compared to infants of more depressed mothers with less sensitive fathers.

This study is the first to examine the unique associations of parents’ depressive symptoms and sensitivity with child socioemotional problems during infancy and toddlerhood, considering both parents simultaneously. Findings suggest that fathers’ sensitive parenting is critical for their children’s well-being and can significantly reduce the child’s vulnerability to socioemotional problems when mothers are depressed.

Authors

• Frederic Theriault-Couture, Laval University
  Presenting Author

• Célia Matte-Gagné, Laval University

• Annie Bernier, University of Montreal

• George M Tarabulsy, University Laval