Reciprocal relationships between paternal psychological distress and child internalising and externalising difficulties from 3 to 14 years: a cross-lagged analysis

Modelling the associations between parental depressive symptoms, hypomanic traits, and infant socio-emotional development: The mediating role of parental reflective functioning

BACKGROUND

Although understanding of maternal hypomania in the postpartum period is gradually improving, the intergenerational pathways of risk associated with hypomania in the context of postpartum depression remain unknown. It is also unclear whether distinct or shared pathways of risk exist for infants exposed to different parental mood characteristics and whether these pathways are mediated by parental reflective functioning.

METHODS

An online survey was administered to 1788 parents (89 % mothers, 50 % White) who were primary caregivers of a child under 2. Structural equation modelling techniques were employed to model direct and indirect associations between parental depressive symptoms, hypomanic traits and infant socio-emotional development, investigating the mediating role of parental reflective functioning.

RESULTS

Elevated levels of parental depressive symptoms, in the presence of hypomanic personality traits, were directly associated with infant socio-emotional challenges, without affecting parental reflective functioning. However, higher levels of parental hypomanic traits in the postnatal period displayed a fully mediated pathway of risk transmission to infants' socio-emotional development via their negative association with parental reflective functioning.

LIMITATIONS

Results should be interpreted with caution as the reliance on self-and-parent-reported scales may have introduced biases influenced by individual perceptions and situational factors. Additionally, the cross-sectional design of this study inhibits establishing cause-and-effect relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

Overall, these results highlight the critical role of both parental depressive symptoms and hypomanic traits on infant socio-emotional development, suggesting that supporting parental mood regulation and mentalizing abilities in the postnatal period could reduce the risk of early maladaptive socio-emotional trajectories in children.

Paternal and maternal psychological distress and adolescent health risk behaviors: The role of sensitive periods

INTRODUCTION

Adolescent health risk behaviors are linked to poor physical and mental health outcomes. While past research shows that maternal psychological distress predicts those behaviors, we know less about the role of paternal psychological distress and the role of sensitive periods.

METHODS

Using 11,128 data from families (50.5% female children) from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, we examined the role of timing of exposure to paternal and maternal psychological distress in engagement in health risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, binge drinking, and sexual activity) at age 14. Paternal and maternal psychological distress, measured with the Kessler-6 scale, were assessed at child ages 3, 7, and 11. We performed path analysis, adjusting for key covariates, modeling maternal distress parallel to paternal, and allowing for autoregressive paths.

RESULTS

Paternal distress experienced at age 11 predicted a higher likelihood of smoking at age 14. Maternal distress at age 7 also predicted a higher likelihood of smoking, alcohol use, and binge drinking, but only for boys. Moreover, maternal distress at age 3 was associated with a lower risk for alcohol use. Effects were not replicated in the sensitivity analysis we performed, including only families with resident biological fathers across the study period. Instead, maternal and paternal distress at age 11 raised girls' risk for binge drinking and sexual activity, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Parental distress in early childhood does not predict adolescent health risk behaviors. In late childhood, however, both paternal and maternal distress seem to influence the likelihood of engagement in such behaviors.

Maternal Mental Health and Children's Problem Behaviours: A Bi-directional Relationship?

Transactional theory and the coercive family process model have illustrated how the parent-child relationship is reciprocal. Emerging research using advanced statistical methods has examined these theories, but further investigations are necessary. In this study, we utilised linked health data on maternal mental health disorders and explored their relationship with child problem behaviours via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire for over 13 years. We accessed data from the Millennium Cohort Study, linked to anonymised individual-level population-scale health and administrative data within the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) Databank. We used Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling, specifically Random-Intercept Cross-Lagged Panel Models, to analyse the relationships between mothers and their children. We then explored these models with the addition of time-invariant covariates. We found that a mother's mental health was strongly associated over time, as were children's problem behaviours. We found mixed evidence for bi-directional relationships, with only emotional problems showing bi-directional associations in mid to late childhood. Only child-to-mother pathways were identified for the overall problem behaviour score and peer problems; no associations were found for conduct problems or hyperactivity. All models had strong between-effects and clear socioeconomic and sex differences. We encourage the use of whole family-based support for mental health and problem behaviours, and recommend that socioeconomic, sex and wider differences should be considered as factors in tailoring family-based interventions and support.

Co-Developmental Trajectories of Parental Psychological Distress and Child Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Childhood and Adolescence: Associations with Self-Harm and Suicide Attempts

Growing evidence has suggested that parental mental illness and child internalizing and externalizing problems tend to co-occur and engender risk for adverse child outcomes; however, there is considerable heterogeneity in their joint developmental trajectories. This study aimed to evaluate the joint developmental trajectories of maternal and paternal psychological distress and child internalizing and externalizing problems from early childhood to middle adolescence. Given that suicide and self-harm are major public health issues in adolescence and often occur in the context of other mental health issues, we also examined the association between these joint trajectories and these outcomes in adolescence. Parallel-process latent class growth analysis was applied to 14 years of follow-up data from a large-scale, nationally representative sample of youths participating in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study (MCS; n = 12,520, 50.9% male). Results showed the best-fitting solution had four trajectory classes: (1) low symptoms, 59.0%; (2) moderate symptoms in children, 22.5%; (3) notable symptoms in fathers, 10.7%; and (4) co-occurring maternal and child symptoms, 7.8%. The trajectory groups differed in their self-harm and suicide attempts in adolescence, underscoring the possible importance of the roles of both parental distress and child problem behaviors processes in these outcomes. Future studies will be valuable to rigorously test the directionality and the respective roles of parents and children in this association. Our findings suggest the need for two-generation mental health intervention programs that are tailored based on co-developmental trajectory group membership.

When mothers are more negative while fathers are less positive: Offspring's temporary feelings of depression affect parental work engagement via the asymmetric effects of emotions transmission

There is a sharp rise in depressive moods from childhood to adolescence. Since moods can cross over from a child to a parent and spill over from family to work, offspring's temporary feelings of depression represent potential risks for parents' occupational health and well-being. In the current study, the authors investigate the impacts of offspring's temporary feelings of depression on mothers' work engagement via the transfer of negative moods, and on fathers' work engagement via the transfer of positive moods. Participants were 265 full-time employees and their adolescent offspring. The results confirmed our hypotheses. Offspring's temporary feelings of depression were associated with less maternal work engagement via increased maternal negative moods and endangered paternal work engagement via decreased paternal positive moods. The finding implies that negative emotions may be related to the occupational health of working mothers, while positive emotions may be related to the occupational health of working fathers.

Maternal mental-health treatment moderates the association between psychological distress and harsh parenting: A prospective cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Parental psychological distress (depression, anxiety) is detrimental to child mental health. A key reason for this is that depressed and anxious parents are at risk of engaging in more negative, reactive and harsh parenting. While treatment for psychological distress has a long history of success in adults, less is known about how treatment for parental psychological distress may positively influence parenting behaviours, particularly in the general population. We examined the moderating role of mothers receiving treatment for depression or anxiety on the longitudinal relationship between maternal psychological distress and the development of harsh parenting (smacking and shouting) across early childhood (ages 3 to 7).

METHOD

Using prospective data from 16,131 families participating in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, we conducted moderator analysis within a multilevel repeated measures model to test whether receiving treatment for mental health problems could protect mothers with high psychological distress from engaging in harsh parenting.

RESULTS

In each wave, about 7% of mothers reported undergoing treatment for depression or anxiety at that time. Maternal psychological distress was associated with increased use of harsh parenting and that, adjusting for psychological distress, receiving psychological treatment was related to decreased use of harsh parenting. Importantly, receiving psychological treatment buffered the negative effect of psychological distress on harsh parenting.

CONCLUSION

In early-to-middle childhood, mental health treatment may help mothers with depression or anxiety to be less harsh toward their children, thereby benefiting their child's psychological adjustment.

Adolescents' depressive moods and parents' family-work interaction

Introduction

For working parents with dependent children, parenthood is essential to their "life" component, which could profoundly influence their work experiences. Since depressive moods rise sharply in adolescence, this study aims to investigate the relationship between children's depressive moods and parental family-work interaction. Integrating the literature on emotions and family-work interaction, I propose that adolescents' depressive moods (over the past 2 weeks) decrease parents' work engagement via increased parents' family-work conflict. Further, I hypothesize that adolescent performance-avoidance, a key trait related to adolescents' long-term emotional experiences, moderates the indirect relationship.

Methods

Using a multiple-source, time-lagged design, I tested hypotheses using data collected from 468 adolescent-parent dyadic from China.

Results

I found that adolescents' depressive moods relate negatively to their parents' work engagement via increased parents' family-work conflict when adolescents have low levels of performance-avoidance. When an adolescent has a high level of performance-avoidance, parents show a relatively higher degree of family-work conflict and lower work engagement regardless of adolescents' depressive moods.

Discussion

I discuss the theoretical and practical implications for employee family-work interaction and work engagement.

Poverty, social exclusion, and mental health: the role of the family context in children aged 7-11 years INMA mother-and-child cohort study

Mental health problems are common in childhood and tend to be more frequent in populations at risk of poverty or social exclusion (AROPE). The family environment can play a role in reducing the impact of economic hardship on these problems. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of multidimensional poverty on the mental health of children aged 7-11 years and the role of the family environment in two areas of Spain. Participants were 395 and 382 children aged 7 and 11 from Gipuzkoa and Valencia, respectively. Internalizing and externalizing problem scales of the child behaviour checklist (CBCL) were used. AROPE indicators were obtained by questionnaire, and three dimensions of the family context (Organization of the Physical Environment and Social Context, Parental Stress and Conflict, and Parental Profile Fostering Development) were measured through subscales 3, 4 and 5 of the Haezi-Etxadi family assessment scale (7-11) (HEFAS 7-11), respectively. Data were analysed using negative binomial regression and Structural Equation Modelling. AROPE prevalence was 7.1 and 34.5% in Gipuzkoa and Valencia, respectively. In both cohorts, there was a significant increase in internalizing and externalizing problems among participants with a higher AROPE score. However, AROPE did not affect internalizing problems in children from families living in a better physical environment and with social support (Subscale 3). The AROPE effect was jointly mediated by subscales 4 and 5 in 42 and 62% of internalizing and externalizing problems, respectively. Preventing economic inequities by economic compensation policies, improving the neighbourhood and immediate environment around the school, and promoting positive parenting programmes can improve mental health in childhood.

Asian "Guan" Parenting and Life Satisfaction Among Adolescents in Malaysia: The Mediating Role of Filial Piety

Literature on adolescent development has shown that parenting practices have positive relationships with adolescents’ life satisfaction. Adolescents’ life satisfaction improves when they have parents low in psychological control who uphold reciprocal self-disclosure in their communication. Guan parenting was found to correlate positively with adolescents’ development. Therefore, it is methodologically important to replicate the investigation on the relationship between adolescents’ life satisfaction and Guan parenting. Literature suggests that filial piety is shaped by parenting practices and adolescents who perceived intense parental concern, care, and involvement tend to uphold filial piety and express gratitude toward parents which may promote the adolescents’ life satisfaction. In this study, mediation analysis was done to elucidate the relationship among parents’ guan parenting style, filial piety, and life satisfaction on 606 adolescents (M_age=15.07; SD_age=1.03; 52.1% females) in Malaysia. The adolescents were sampled through cluster sampling, and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. The results showed positive relationship between paternal and maternal guan parenting with filial piety and adolescents’ life satisfaction. Greater parents’ filial piety was linked to higher life satisfaction among adolescents. Findings from the mediation models indicated the association among guan parenting with filial piety, gratitude toward parents, and higher life satisfaction. The findings also offered empirical evidence to the underlying mechanism of how guan parenting could affect adolescent life satisfaction via the mediating role of filial piety. The findings also supported the importance of culture-infused parenting in inculcating adolescents’ filial piety besides establishing its link to life satisfaction in Asian families.