The Mediating Role of Autonomy and Relatedness on Maternal and Child Outcomes

Intergenerational transmission of maternal overprotection and child anxiety in substance-using families

The current study investigated an intergenerational transmission model between maternal overprotection and child anxiety across three generations, among a sample of substance-using women and their children. Participants included 183 mother-child pairs. Mothers reported overprotective behaviors of their own mothers, as well as their own anxiety symptoms and substance use at baseline. Mothers reported their adolescents' internalizing behaviors, and adolescents reported their mothers' overprotection, five times over 1.5 years. Growth curve models showed that overprotection among the first generation (G1) mothers was related to anxiety among the second generation (G2) mothers and sequentially the rate of change of overprotection among G2 mothers. Baseline overprotection among G2 mothers was related to baseline internalizing problems among the third generation (G3). More importantly, substance use among G2 mothers moderated the link between the rate of change in overprotection among G2 mothers and the rate of change in internalizing problems among G3 children. Findings uncover the intergenerational transmission model of overprotection-anxiety and shed light upon the complex relations among anxiety, substance use, and parenting in substance-using families.

Interruption of dysfunctional mother-child reciprocal influences associated with family therapy

This study examined the prospective associations among maternal substance use, depressive symptoms, and children's behavioral problems in a family systems therapy (ecologically based family therapy [EBFT]) condition and an individual treatment condition. Participants included 183 mothers with a substance use disorder who had at least 1 biological child in their care. Mothers were randomly assigned to the EBFT condition (n = 123) or an individual treatment condition (n = 60). Maternal substance use, depressive symptoms, and child behavioral problems were assessed at baseline and at 3, 6, and 12 months postbaseline. Autoregressive cross-lagged models were estimated to compare whether the cross-lagged paths among the 3 variables differed from zero in each treatment condition. Findings revealed that for individual treatment, strong reciprocal relationships were observed between maternal substance use and maternal depressive symptoms, and between maternal substance use and child behavioral problems. Conversely, in the EBFT group, fewer reciprocal relationships were observed, and instead, maternal depressive symptoms predicted more future child behavioral problems. These findings suggest an interruption in the dysfunctional reciprocal transmission of problem behaviors between mothers and children over time in the family therapy condition. The findings provide evidence for the effectiveness of family systems therapy, EBFT, in interrupting the dysfunctional family dynamics that contribute to maternal substance using behaviors and child behavioral problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).