Association Between Independent Reports of Maternal Parenting Stress and Children’s Internalizing Symptomatology

Although considerable research has investigated parenting stress and children’s externalizing behavior problems, comparatively less has considered parenting stress in relation to children’s internalizing difficulties. Even less research on parenting stress has incorporated children’s report of their internalizing symptoms or the potential mediating role of children’s attributional style. The current study hypothesized that children’s independent reports of internalizing symptoms would be associated with mothers’ reports of parenting stress through children’s attributional style. A community sample of 92 mother–child dyads participated. Results suggest maternal parenting stress from both child and parent sources were significantly associated with children’s anxious and depressive symptoms. Parenting stress was associated with children’s internalizing symptoms partially mediated by children’s maladaptive attributional style, primarily negative attributions for positive outcomes. Findings are discussed in terms of future directions to tease apart specific areas of parenting stress that may be most pertinent as well as to explore other cognitive mechanisms in children that may relate to parenting stress and children’s adjustment.     

UNDERSTANDING PARENTING STRESS AND CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR PROBLEMS AMONG HOMELESS,SUBSTANCE‐ABUSING MOTHERS

This article tested a model of parenting stress as a mediator between maternal depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, and child behavior problems using a sample of homeless, substance‐abusing mothers. Participants were 119 homeless mothers (ages 18–24 years) and their young children (ages 0–6 years). Mothers responded to questions about their depressive symptoms, emotion regulation, parenting stress, and child behavior problems. A path analysis showed that maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with child behavior problems through increased parenting stress whereas maternal cognitive reappraisal was negatively associated with child behavior problems through decreased parenting stress. Moreover, maternal expressive suppression was negatively related to child externalizing problems. Findings support the parenting stress theory and highlight maternal parenting stress as a mechanism associated with homeless children's mental health risk. This study has significant implications for understanding the parenting processes underlying child's resilience in the context of homelessness and maternal substance use.     

Postnatal Depression and Infant Health Practices Among High-Risk Women

Women’s postnatal depressive symptoms have been associated with many adverse outcomes for children. The current study examined the frequency association with relative risk between postnatal depressive symptoms and mothers’ use of preventative infant health practices. The study used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and Parental Health and Depression Questionnaire (PHDQ) to identify women’s depressive symptoms in a prospective longitudinal sample of 134 high-risk non-white mothers receiving well-baby health services. Unadjusted frequency comparisons examined the effect of women’s postnatal depressive symptoms on infant outcomes. Results found that compared to 60 women without postnatal depressive symptoms, 74 women with symptoms engaged in significantly fewer well-child health-visits, were less likely to use home safety devices or place their infants in the preferred back-to-sleep position, and did not complete immunizations. Depressed women were also more likely to lack knowledge of nurturing and sensitive parenting, use corporal punishment and inappropriate foods, and to show poor parenting practices. These findings provide additional supportive evidence that more efforts are needed to identify and assess women’s depressive symptoms to promote health and safety of young children. Methodological limitations and recommendations for future research are addressed.     

Maternal Depression,Maternal Expressed Emotion,and Youth Psychopathology

Across development, maternal depression has been found to be a risk factor for youth psychopathology generally and youth depression specifically. Maternal Expressed Emotion (EE) has been examined as a predictor of outcome among youth with depression. The present study explored the associations between youth psychopathology and two predictors–maternal depression within the child’s lifetime and maternal EE–in a study of children at risk for depression. One hundred and seventy-one youth, ages 8–12, and their mothers participated. To assess maternal and youth psychopathology, dyads were administered structured diagnostic assessments, and mothers and children completed self-report measures of their own depressive symptoms. In addition, mothers completed the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist–Parent Report Version (CBCL) for their children. Maternal EE was assessed based on the Five Minute Speech Sample. History of maternal depression was associated with high maternal EE, and the combination of maternal depression history and maternal EE was associated with children’s own reports of higher depressive symptoms. Current maternal depressive symptoms were associated with mothers’ reports of children’s Internalizing scores on the CBCL, and maternal depression history, current maternal depressive symptoms, and maternal EE were strongly associated with mothers’ reports of children’s Externalizing and Total Problem scores on the CBCL. History of maternal depression and a rating of high or borderline Critical EE (characterized by maternal critical comments and/or reports of a negative relationship) were independently associated with children’s depression diagnoses.     

The Nature and Predictive Value of Mothers' Beliefs Regarding Infants' and Toddlers' TV/Video Viewing: Applying the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction

Viewing television and video programming has become a normative behavior among U.S. infants and toddlers. Little is understood about the extent of parents' decision making regarding their young children's viewing, although numerous organizations are interested in reducing time spent viewing among infants and toddlers. Prior research has examined parents' belief in the educational value of TV/videos for young children and the predictive value of this belief for understanding infant and toddler viewing rates, although other possible salient beliefs remain largely unexplored. This study employs the integrative model of behavioral prediction to examine 30 maternal beliefs about infants' and toddlers' TV/video viewing, which were elicited from a prior sample of mothers. Results indicate that mothers tend to hold more positive than negative beliefs about the outcomes associated with young children's TV/video viewing and that the nature of the aggregate set of beliefs is predictive of their general attitudes and intentions to allow their children to view, as well as children's estimated viewing rates. Analyses also uncover multiple dimensions within the full set of beliefs, which explain more variance in mothers' attitudes and intentions and children's viewing than the uni-dimensional index. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

Parents, children, and trauma: Parent role perceptions and behaviors related to the 9/11 tragedy

The trauma associated with 9/11 affected and continues to influence children, families, and other groups of people. While research is cataloging the various coping difficulties experienced, few studies specifically address issues related to parenting perceptions and related activities or behaviors. We examined individuals employed in close proximity to Ground Zero and considered these individuals’ perspectives regarding their parenting perceptions and behaviors. In addition to capturing parenting subsequent to 9/11, the researchers also asked participants about their parenting beliefs and behaviors prior to and immediately after 9/11. Additional variables, such as directly viewing 9/11 and participating in the evacuation, parent age and gender, child age and gender, and ethnicity, were considered in light of parenting beliefs and practices. The retrospective questions, while not ideal methodologically, reveal that some parent characteristics and behaviors changed immediately following 9/11 and subsequently returned to pre-9/11 levels, others changed and remain altered, while others stayed relatively stable over time. Implications of this research for further study as well as mental health practice related to children and families are presented.     

Dynamic Associations between Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Adolescents’ Depressive and Externalizing Symptoms

The current prospective study investigated transactional relations between maternal depressive symptoms and children’s depressive and externalizing symptoms. Participants included 240 children (M age = 11.86 years, SD = 0.56; 53.9% female) and their mothers who were part of a 6-year longitudinal study. Measures of maternal depression (Beck Depression Inventory), child depression (Children’s Depression Inventory), and children’s externalizing symptoms (Youth Self-Report Form) were assessed annually. Data analyses using dynamic latent difference score structural equation models indicated that the observed relations between mothers’ and adolescents’ symptoms were stable across the 6 years. Higher levels of maternal depressive symptoms predicted subsequent elevations in children’s depressive symptoms and in their externalizing problems over time. Among mothers with high initial levels of depression, children’s depressive symptoms predicted subsequent declines in mothers’ depressive symptoms. Children’s externalizing problems were not related to subsequent change in maternal symptoms.     

Mothers’ Empathic Understanding of their Toddlers: Associations with Maternal Depression and Sensitivity

Mothers’ empathic understanding of their children’s motives, thoughts, and feelings is thought to guide parenting behaviors and shape the mother-child relationship. However, little is known about the relation between empathic understanding and parenting behaviors during developmental shifts that may be emotionally challenging for mothers, such as the transition from infancy to the toddler years, or how it may relate to maternal depressive symptoms. We assessed relations between maternal empathic understanding, depression, and sensitivity. We developed a coding system, the Empathic Understanding Assessment (EUA), to measure this construct in the mothers of 30-month old children. One hundred twenty eight mother-child pairs participated in a series of lab-based tasks designed to be challenging for the children. Mothers then watched these videotaped interactions and responded to questions regarding their children’s experiences. Interview content was coded using the EUA. Results indicated that mothers higher in empathic understanding and more intensely emotional were rated as more sensitive. Maternal depression was negatively related to empathic understanding. The importance of considering the role of maternal empathic understanding in parenting behavior is discussed, as are potential implications for child outcomes.     

Associations of Mother’s and Father’s Parenting Practices with Children’s Observed Social Reticence in a Competitive Situation: A Monozygotic Twin Difference Study

This study used the monozygotic (MZ) twin difference method to examine whether the unique environmental effects of maternal and paternal overprotection and hostility at the age of 30 months predict twins’ observed social reticence in a competitive situation in kindergarten, while controlling for the effect of family-wide influences, including genetic and shared environmental factors, family socio-economical status and twin’s birth weight. It was also examined whether these associations are moderated by parental depressive symptoms. Participants were 137 MZ twin pairs who were part of an ongoing longitudinal study. Hierarchical linear regressions revealed that differences in maternal and paternal overprotection predicted differences in twins’ social reticence, albeit only in boys. Differences in paternal hostile parenting predicted differences in girls’ reticent behavior, but only when fathers showed high levels of depressive symptoms. Hence, overprotected boys, as well as girls confronted with father’s hostility and depressive symptoms, may tend to withdraw rather than face the challenge when experiencing difficult social situations such as competition. The results from the present study suggest that targeting maladaptive maternal as well as paternal child-rearing practices and psychopathology early on may be useful for reducing later internalizing behavior in the offspring.     

Mother-child relationships of children with ADHD: the role of maternal depressive symptoms and depression-related distortions

We investigated the DepressionDistortion hypothesis by examining the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on cross-informant discrepancies in reports of child behavior problems and several measures of parent–child relationship. The sample included ninety-six 6 to 10-year-old children diagnosed with ADHD-Combined Type, and their mothers, who provided baseline data before participating in a randomized clinical trial. Measures incorporated child characteristics, self-reports of maternal depressive symptoms, parenting practices, and laboratory mother–child interactions. Elevations in maternal depressive symptoms were associated with maternal reports of negative parenting style but not with observed laboratory interactions. Mothers' levels of depressive symptoms predicted negative biases in their reports of their child's ADHD symptoms, general behavior problems, and their own negative parenting style. Whereas levels of depressive symptoms did not predict observed parenting behaviors, maternal distortions did predict problematic parent–child interactions. Exploratory analyses showed a marginally significant mediation effect of the relationship between maternal depressive symptomatology and reports of negative parenting by depressive distortions. We discuss implications of linkages between depressive symptoms in mothers, depression-related distortions, and mother–child relationships for research and intervention in developmental psychopathology.     

Mother and Child Depressive Symptoms in Youth with Spina Bifida: Additive, Moderator, and Mediator Models

The purpose of the study was to examine the extent to which parenting behaviors influence the relation between maternal and child depressive symptoms in youth with spina bifida and a comparison sample. Previous research has found that maternal depression not only negatively impacts the mother–child relationship, but also places the child at risk for developing depressive symptoms. However, certain parenting behaviors might buffer the association between maternal and youth depression. The influence of maternal depressive symptoms and parenting behavior (i.e., acceptance, behavioral control, psychological control) on youth depressive symptoms were examined in the context of three models: (1) an additive/cumulative risk model, (2) a moderator model, and (3) a mediator model. Data were examined longitudinally at five time points when youth were 8–9 through 16–17 years of age. Results supported an additive/cumulative risk model, but did not support the moderator or mediator models. Low maternal acceptance, high behavioral control, and high psychological control were risk factors for child depressive symptoms at several time points, with maternal depressive symptoms exerting an additional risk at later time points. A group difference between the spina bifida and comparison youth was not supported. Findings indicate that in general, maternal parenting behavior is salient throughout childhood and early adolescence, but maternal depressive symptoms do not exert an influence until mid-adolescence. Family interventions should aim to promote maternal mental health and maternal parenting behaviors to reduce the risk of the development of depressive symptoms in adolescence.     

Pediatric Parenting Stress and Its Relation to Depressive Symptoms and Fear of Hypoglycemia in Parents of Young Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Parents of young children with type 1 diabetes (T1DM) maintain full responsibility for their child’s daily diabetes self-care and thus may be vulnerable to experiencing parenting stress. This study examined several psychological correlates of pediatric parenting stress in parents of young children with T1DM. Parents of 39 young children with T1DM (ages 2–7 years) completed measures of pediatric parenting stress, mealtime behavior problems, depressive symptoms, and fear of hypoglycemia. For parents of young children, higher stress frequency and difficulty were associated with higher parental depressive symptoms and fear. Regression analyses identified that 58% of the variance in stress frequency was associated with parental depressive symptoms. For stress difficulty, 68% of the variance was associated with parental depressive symptoms and fear. Pediatric parenting stress is common in parents of young children with T1DM. Stress and the psychological correlates measured in this study are amenable to intervention and should be regularly assessed in parents of young children with T1DM.     

Symptoms of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and Social and School Adjustment: The Moderating Roles of Age and Parenting

This study examined the associations between symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and social and school adjustment (academic performance, peer relationships, school social problems) and the moderating roles of children’s age and maternal parenting (affection and overprotection) in these associations. The sample consisted of 2,463 students who were in the first to ninth grade in northern Taiwan. Results from the linear mixed models demonstrated that ADHD symptoms were inversely associated with academic performance and positively associated with social adjustment problems. Further, children’s age and maternal parenting moderated the associations between ADHD symptoms and school and social adjustment. For example, maternal overprotection moderated the relation between hyperactivity and negative peer relationships (i.e., difficulty forming and maintaining friendships), such that this relation was stronger for children who experienced higher levels of overprotection than children who did not. Moreover, children’s age moderated the association between attention problems and decreased academic performance, such that this association was stronger for older children and adolescents than for younger children. Furthermore, children’s age and maternal affection interacted to influence the association between attention problems and school social problems (i.e., bullying, aggression, and peer rejection) with maternal affection acting as a buffer for older children (grades 4–6) only. These findings are discussed from a developmental psychopathology perspective.     

Television Viewing and Adolescents’ Judgment of Sexual Request Scripts: A Latent Growth Curve Analysis in Early and Middle Adolescence

A longitudinal study was conducted to explore the relationship between television viewing and beliefs about expressing sexual desire in dating situations. In three consecutive years, a panel of early adolescents (N = 883) and a panel of middle adolescents (N = 651) rated the effectiveness of a sexual approach and a romantic approach. Latent growth curve analyses indicate that between the ages of 12 and 15 there is a growing belief in the effectiveness of the sexual approach, which was related to respondents’ maturity status but unrelated to television viewing, and a weakening belief in the effectiveness of the romantic strategy, a decline that appeared to be quickened by television viewing in the female sample and slowed down by television viewing in the male sample. Between the ages of 15 and 18 television viewing reinforces a respondent’s belief in the effectiveness of both the sexual and the romantic strategy. Steven Eggermont, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow of the K.U. Leuven Research Fund at The Leuven School for Mass Communication Research.     

Parenting Style and Children’s Life Satisfaction and Depressive Symptoms: Preliminary Findings from Romania,France, and Russia

This study evaluated how culture relates to parenting and children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, and whether there are cultural differences in how maternal parenting style relates to children’s adjustment among three cultural contexts: Romanian, Russian, and French. The sample included 325 children, aged 9–11 years, from Romania (n = 123), Russia (n = 112), and France (n = 90). Children completed questionnaires regarding their perceptions of maternal parenting style, and their life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. French children reported lower levels of authoritative parenting style and higher levels of authoritarian parenting style compared to their Romanian and Russian peers. Further, French children reported higher levels of depressive symptoms than both their Romanian and Russian peers, while Russian children had higher life satisfaction than their Romanian and French peers. The strengths of the associations between parenting style and both children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms, however, did not differ based on children’s cultural context. Our findings suggest the importance of cultural context in relation to parenting styles and children’s life satisfaction and depressive symptoms. Further, our study shows that the relations between parenting and children’s adjustment are similar across the cultural contexts included in this study.     

The Contributions of Parenting and Postnatal Depression on Emergent Language of Children in Low-Income Families

Children’s emergent language develops in a rich context of varied influences afforded by their familial and social environments. Using data collected during a longitudinal prospective service project, this study examined the direct and indirect contributions of parenting knowledge and practices and maternal postnatal depression on emergent language competencies of 198 very young children in high-risk Latino and African/American families in an urban area. The study used the Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory, a constructed measure of risky parenting practices for child well-health, home-safety, and corporal discipline, a constructed measure for children’s involvement in literacy oriented activities, Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, and MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories to build and test a structural equation model with AMOS/SPSS 16. The results provide support for a mediated path model. Parenting knowledge and maternal postnatal depressive symptoms interacted directly and indirectly in influencing risky parental practices and children’s exposure in literacy oriented stimulation activities and emergent language. Children’s involvement in stimulation activities mediated the effects of parenting and maternal mental health and directly predicted a robust amount children’s emergent vocabulary. The model produced similar results for boys and girls, although boys had poorer outcomes. These findings provide empirical evidence that clinical practice and policy efforts are needed for reducing maternal postnatal depression in strengthening parenting efforts and in affording meaningful parent–child interactions and for assuring that children receive adequate exposure to activities that promote language development. Methodological limitations and recommendations for future research are addressed.     

Association of social-environmental factors with cognitive function in children with sickle cell disease

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between cognitive function in pediatric sickle cell disease (SCD) patients and mothers’ reports of social-environmental stress, depressive symptoms, and parenting. A total of 65 children with SCD completed comprehensive neuropsychological testing to assess several domains of cognitive functioning, including general intellectual ability, academic achievement, and executive function. Mothers reported on demographics, social-environmental stress, depressive symptoms, and parenting. As predicted, children with SCD significantly underperformed relative to normative data on measures of cognitive function. Associations between maternal social-environmental stress, maternal depressive symptoms, and parenting were mixed. The results show partial support for the hypothesis that greater stress and depressive symptoms and less positive parenting are associated with poorer cognitive function in children with SCD. Linear regression analyses showed that maternal financial stress was the strongest predictor across all domains of cognitive function. The findings replicate and extend past research, reaffirming that children with SCD are at risk for cognitive impairment across multiple domains. Additionally, social-environmental stress, particularly financial strain, is linked to mothers’ depressive symptoms and parenting behaviors as well as children’s cognitive function. Future studies using direct observations of parenting behaviors are needed. These findings, along with recent research on parenting interventions, may inform the development of concrete, teachable parenting and coping skills to improve cognitive functioning in children with SCD.     

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Social Preference During the Early School Years: Mediation by Maternal Warmth and Child Emotion Regulation

This longitudinal study examined processes that mediate the association between maternal depressive symptoms and peer social preference during the early school years. Three hundred and fifty six kindergarten children (182 boys) and their mothers participated in the study. During kindergarten, mothers reported their level of depressive symptomatology. In first grade, teachers rated children’s emotion regulation at school and observers rated the affective quality of mother-child interactions. During second grade, children’s social preference was assessed by peer nomination. Results indicated that mothers’ level of depressive symptomatology negatively predicted their child’s social preference 2 years later, controlling for the family SES and teacher-rated social preference during kindergarten. Among European American families, the association between maternal depressive symptoms and social preference was partially mediated by maternal warmth and the child’s emotion regulation. Although the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children peer preference was stronger among African American families than Europrean American families, its mediation by the maternal warmth and child’s emotion regulation was not found in African American families.     

Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Child Externalizing Problems: Moderating Effects of Emotionally Maltreating Parenting Behaviors

While prior research has examined the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and child externalizing behaviors, little research has focused specifically on the moderating effects of observed parenting behaviors on this relationship. This study was conducted to investigate the role of emotionally maltreating parenting behaviors, which were hypothesized to exacerbate the strength of the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems. Maternal depressive symptoms, child externalizing problems, and emotionally maltreating parenting behaviors were assessed in a community sample of 62 mother–child dyads (with children age 8–11 years). Results indicated the overall model was significant, after controlling for maternal race, as was the interaction between maternal depressive symptoms and emotionally maltreating parenting behaviors. Based on these findings, future research is needed to identify potential protective factors that may prevent depressive symptoms from negatively affecting parenting behaviors, with the attendant goal of decreasing risk for emotional maltreatment.     

Maternal Depression,Locus of Control,and Emotion Regulatory Strategy as Predictors of Preschoolers’ Internalizing Problems

Childhood internalizing problems may occur as early as preschool, tend to be stable over time, and undermine social and academic functioning. Parent emotion regulatory behaviors may contribute to child internalizing problems and may be especially important during the preschool years when parents model emotion coping and regulation for their children. Parents who feel out of control of their preschoolers’ behavior and emotional states may adopt avoidant emotion regulatory strategies. We proposed that parent depression, perceived locus of control, and experiential avoidance would be linked with internalizing symptoms in a high-risk sample of preschool-aged children. We also expected that locus of control would mediate the relationship between maternal depression, experiential avoidance, and child internalizing problems. Seventy-four urban, low-income, diverse mothers of Head Start preschool children completed rating scales measuring their own depression, locus of control, experiential avoidance, and their children’s internalizing behaviors. Correlational analyses revealed that mothers reporting higher levels of depression were more likely to report experiential avoidance, feeling out of control in their parenting role, and internalizing symptoms in their children. Hierarchical multiple regressions showed that locus of control explained additional unique variance in child internalizing problems over and above that explained by maternal depression. Locus of control mediated the relationship between maternal depression and child internalizing symptoms. The importance of considering parent locus of control and its relation to children’s internalizing symptoms is discussed as a potential target for early childhood prevention programs.