Maternal Depressive Symptoms and At-Risk Young Children's Internalizing Problems: The Moderating Role of Mothers' Positivity

Overview

Journal Merrill Palmer Q (Wayne State Univ Press)

Date 2021 Aug 23

PMID 34421173

Citations 5

Authors

Benjamin D Goodlett

Christopher J Trentacosta

Caitlin McLear

Laura Crespo

Rebecca Wheeler

Alexis Williams

Kiren Chaudhry

Joanne Smith-Darden

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Maternal depressive symptoms predict negative child behaviors, including internalizing problems. However, protective factors, such as positive emotionality and positive parenting behaviors, may play an important a role in attenuating associations between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems. This manuscript presents two studies that examined buffers of links between maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems. Each study examined samples of primarily African American families with young children in an impoverished large city in the Midwestern United States. Families were recruited from kindergarten classes and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) centers. In both studies, indicators of mothers' positivity, as measured by text based analysis of positive emotion word use or behavioral observation of positive parenting behaviors, attenuated links between maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems. The results suggest that risk for internalizing problems within the context of maternal depressive symptoms is reduced when parents experience and express more positive emotions and behaviors.

Citing Articles

Language use in depressed and non-depressed mothers and their adolescent offspring.

Cariola L, Sheeber L, Allen N, Bilalpur M, Bird T, Hinduja S J Affect Disord. 2024; 366:290-299.

PMID: 39187178 PMC: 11654823. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.08.131.

Language Use in Mother-Adolescent Dyadic Interaction: Preliminary Results.

Cariola L, Hinduja S, Bilalpur M, Sheeber L, Allen N, Morency L Int Conf Affect Comput Intell Interact Workshops. 2024; 2022.

PMID: 39161704 PMC: 11332661. DOI: 10.1109/acii55700.2022.9953886.

Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms and children's internalizing problems: The moderating role of mother-infant RSA synchrony.

Lan Q, Zhang C, Lunkenheimer E, Chang S, Li Z, Wang L Dev Psychopathol. 2023; 36(4):1776-1788.

PMID: 37702076 PMC: 10932888. DOI: 10.1017/S0954579423001153.

Household Chaos and Early Childhood Behavior Problems: The Moderating Role of Mother-Child Reciprocity in Lower-Income Families.

Wilhoit S, Trentacosta C, Beeghly M, Boeve J, Lewis T, Thomason M Fam Relat. 2021; 70(4):1040-1054.

PMID: 34924663 PMC: 8680262. DOI: 10.1111/fare.12560.

Harsh physical punishment as a mediator between income, re-reports and out-of-home placement in a child protective services-involved population.

Feely M, Seay K, Loomis A Child Youth Serv Rev. 2019; 103:70-78.

PMID: 31798200 PMC: 6886717. DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2019.05.032.

References

Lovejoy M, Graczyk P, OHare E, Neuman G . Maternal depression and parenting behavior: a meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2000; 20(5):561-92. DOI: 10.1016/s0272-7358(98)00100-7. View

Martins C, Gaffan E . Effects of early maternal depression on patterns of infant-mother attachment: a meta-analytic investigation. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2000; 41(6):737-46. View

Gilliom M, Shaw D . Codevelopment of externalizing and internalizing problems in early childhood. Dev Psychopathol. 2004; 16(2):313-33. DOI: 10.1017/s0954579404044530. View

Ferrari A, Charlson F, Norman R, Patten S, Freedman G, Murray C . Burden of depressive disorders by country, sex, age, and year: findings from the global burden of disease study 2010. PLoS Med. 2013; 10(11):e1001547. PMC: 3818162. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001547. View

Natsuaki M, Shaw D, Neiderhiser J, Ganiban J, Harold G, Reiss D . Raised by depressed parents: is it an environmental risk?. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2014; 17(4):357-67. PMC: 4224978. DOI: 10.1007/s10567-014-0169-z. View

Monteiro L, Verissimo M, Vaughn B, Santos A, Bost K . Secure base representations for both fathers and mothers predict children's secure base behavior in a sample of Portuguese families. Attach Hum Dev. 2008; 10(2):189-206. DOI: 10.1080/14616730802113711. View

Sullivan P, Prescott C, Kendler K . The subtypes of major depression in a twin registry. J Affect Disord. 2002; 68(2-3):273-84. DOI: 10.1016/s0165-0327(00)00364-5. View

Zis A, Goodwin F . Major affective disorder as a recurrent illness: a critical review. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1979; 36(8 Spec No):835-9. DOI: 10.1001/archpsyc.1979.01780080009002. View

Ackerman B, Izard C, Schoff K, Youngstrom E, Kogos J . Contextual risk, caregiver emotionality, and the problem behaviors of six- and seven-year-old children from economically disadvantaged families. Child Dev. 2000; 70(6):1415-27. DOI: 10.1111/1467-8624.00103. View

10.

Connell A, Goodman S . The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: a meta-analysis. Psychol Bull. 2002; 128(5):746-73. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.128.5.746. View

11.

Bayer J, Rapee R, Hiscock H, Ukoumunne O, Mihalopoulos C, Wake M . Translational research to prevent internalizing problems early in childhood. Depress Anxiety. 2010; 28(1):50-7. DOI: 10.1002/da.20743. View

12.

Kahn J, Tobin R, Massey A, Anderson J . Measuring emotional expression with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count. Am J Psychol. 2007; 120(2):263-86. View

13.

Paulson J, Dauber S, Leiferman J . Individual and combined effects of postpartum depression in mothers and fathers on parenting behavior. Pediatrics. 2006; 118(2):659-68. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2005-2948. View

14.

Pachter L, Auinger P, Palmer R, Weitzman M . Do parenting and the home environment, maternal depression, neighborhood, and chronic poverty affect child behavioral problems differently in different racial-ethnic groups?. Pediatrics. 2006; 117(4):1329-38. PMC: 1475725. DOI: 10.1542/peds.2005-1784. View

15.

Goodman S, Gotlib I . Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: a developmental model for understanding mechanisms of transmission. Psychol Rev. 1999; 106(3):458-90. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295x.106.3.458. View

16.

Downey G, Coyne J . Children of depressed parents: an integrative review. Psychol Bull. 1990; 108(1):50-76. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.108.1.50. View

17.

Waters H, Waters E . The attachment working models concept: among other things, we build script-like representations of secure base experiences. Attach Hum Dev. 2006; 8(3):185-97. DOI: 10.1080/14616730600856016. View

18.

Madigan S, Atkinson L, Laurin K, Benoit D . Attachment and internalizing behavior in early childhood: a meta-analysis. Dev Psychol. 2012; 49(4):672-89. DOI: 10.1037/a0028793. View

19.

Tully E, Iacono W, McGue M . An adoption study of parental depression as an environmental liability for adolescent depression and childhood disruptive disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2008; 165(9):1148-54. PMC: 2573034. DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07091438. View

20.

Bagner D, Pettit J, Lewinsohn P, Seeley J . Effect of maternal depression on child behavior: a sensitive period?. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2010; 49(7):699-707. PMC: 2901251. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaac.2010.03.012. View