Poster #22 - Family Chaos as a Mediator Between Parental Depression and Adolescent Depression and Delinquency

• In Event: Poster Session 06

Abstract

Having a depressed parent is a prominent risk factor for the development of psychopathology during childhood and adolescence. Previous research demonstrates that parental depression may disrupt their ability to effectively parent. However, less research has examined how parental depression may be disruptive to broader family processes. Depressive symptoms such as fatigue, loss of interest, and decreased concentration may be disruptive to parents’ ability to maintain a structured, consistent family environment. Parental depression that persists over time or episodes that occur multiple times throughout childhood may be more detrimental to child wellbeing than a single episode of depression. As such, we investigate family chaos during middle childhood as a mediator between both the presence of any parental depression and the chronicity of parental depression throughout childhood and increased depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors during adolescence.

Data are from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS). The FFCWS sample contained 4898 children born in large U.S. cities. Children of unmarried mothers were oversampled (3:1 ratio). Participants were Black/African American (48%), Hispanic (27%), White (21%), and other racial/ethnic backgrounds (4%). Maternal and paternal depression were measured at ages 1, 3, 5, and 9 using the Composite International Diagnostic Review- Short Form (CIDI-SF). Longitudinal data were coded for the presence of any depression during childhood (e.g., meeting criteria at any measurement occasion between ages 1 through 9) and chronicity (e.g., number of data points in which parents met criteria across childhood). At age 9, maternal-reports of family chaos was measured using an adapted version of the Confusion, Hubbub, and Order Scale (CHAOS). At age 15, adolescents self-reported depressive symptoms using a modified version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D) scale. Adolescent delinquency was assessed using youth self-report of 13 delinquent behavior.

Throughout childhood, 39% of mothers and 28% of fathers met criteria for depression at least once between ages 1-9. Chronicity ranged from 0-4 time points. We fit two separate mediational models for presence and chronicity of parental depression in Mplus. Child sex and age, race/ethnicity, household income, marital status at birth were included as covariates.

Family chaos mediated the association between the presence of maternal depression and adolescent depressive symptoms (indirect effect = .007, p=.006) and delinquent behaviors (indirect effect = .009, p<.001). Similarly, chaos mediated the association between presence of paternal depression and adolescent delinquent behaviors (indirect effect = .003, p=.039) but not depressive symptoms. Family chaos also mediated the association between the chronicity of maternal depression and adolescent depressive symptoms (indirect effect = .008, p=.009) and delinquent behaviors (indirect effect = .011, p<.001). The association between chronicity of paternal depression and adolescent delinquent behaviors was mediated by family chaos (indirect effect = .003, p=.039), but not adolescent depressive symptoms. See Figures 1 and 2 for complete mediation analyses.

These findings support the notion that both maternal and paternal depression may disrupt the family system contributing increased chaos and disorganization, which in turn may lead to increased psychopathology for youth including heightened adolescent depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors.

Authors

• Michael V Cataluna, University of Georgia
  Presenting Author

• Morgan Leigh Alexander

• Rachel Ashley Brown, University of Georgia

• Kalsea J Koss, University of Georgia