Change in adolescents' internalizing symptomatology as a function of sex and the timing of maternal depressive symptomatology

Longitudinal Study of Early Adversity and Disturbing Dream Frequency: Moderating Role of Early Negative Emotionality

Although disturbing dreams are prevalent in youth and are associated with psychopathology, little is known about their developmental course and risk factors. We aimed to examine the association between early social environment and subsequent disturbing dream frequency across adolescence as moderated by early negative emotionality. Measures of children's early social environment and negative emotionality were collected from the mothers of 410 children (5-42 months old) and measures of disturbing dream frequency directly from the children (13-18 years old). Preliminary steps identified subgroups of families with distinct profiles of social environment using latent variable mixture modeling, and captured changes in disturbing dream frequency using latent growth modeling. Regression and moderation analyses were conducted to test the study objectives. Results showed that the diverse family patterns were best captured by two profiles reflecting adverse and positive social environments and that overall disturbing dream frequency decreased during adolescence. Moderation analyses showed that when early negative emotionality was higher, DD frequency was not only more elevated in an adverse environment, but lower in a positive environment. These results indicate that the development of disturbing dreams is most strongly associated with a combination of individual and environment factors. Our study adds to the literature by refining our conception of individual traits and disturbing dream development and has implications for the prevention of bad dreams, nightmares, and associated psychopathologies.

Maternal depression symptoms, child behavior problems, and their transactional relations: Probing the role of formal childcare

Among children exposed to elevated maternal depression symptoms (MDS), recent studies have demonstrated reduced internalizing and externalizing problems for those who have attended formal childcare (i.e., center-based, family-based childcare). However, these studies did not consider whether childcare attendance is associated with benefits for the child only or also with reduced MDS. Using a four-wave longitudinal cross-lagged model, we evaluated whether formal childcare attendance was associated with MDS or child behavior problems and whether it moderated longitudinal associations between MDS and child behavior problems and between child behavior problems and MDS. The sample was drawn from a population-based cohort study and consisted of 908 biologically related mother-child dyads, followed from 5 months to 5 years. Attending formal childcare was not associated with MDS or child behavior problems but moderated the association between MDS at 3.5 years and child internalizing and externalizing problems at 5 years as well as between girls' externalizing problems at 3.5 years and MDS at 5 years. No other moderation of formal childcare was found. Findings suggest that attending formal childcare reduces the risks of behavior problems in the context of MDS but also the risk of MDS in the context of girls' externalizing problems.

Maternal depressive symptoms and children's cognitive development: Does early childcare and child's sex matter?

BACKGROUND

Maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) have been associated with poorer child cognitive development. Some studies have shown that childcare attendance moderates associations between MDS and child behavior problems, but we do not know if this is the case for children's cognitive development. Furthermore, few studies have evaluated whether associations between MDS and child cognitive development differ for boys and girls at school entry.

METHODS

This study used data from a population-based cohort study (n = 1364) comprising well-validated measures of children's cognitive development including academic readiness and language development in kindergarten and reading and mathematics achievement in first grade. Information on MDS was collected repeatedly from the child's age of 5 months to 5 years and on childcare from 5 months to 4.5 years. Moderation analyses were conducted to evaluate the differential associations of MDS with children's outcomes depending on the type of childcare attended and the child's sex.

RESULTS

Childcare type or child's sex did not moderate associations between MDS and children's cognitive outcomes except for MDS being associated with lower scores on reading achievement in first grade for girls with a very small effect size (sr2 = .003). Childcare attendance was associated with higher scores for children's cognitive development, however these associations disappeared after adjusting for covariates including child, mother and family characteristics. Regardless of MDS and childcare type, boys had, even after adjusting for covariates, lower scores on academic readiness (sr2 = .029) and higher scores on mathematics achievement (sr2 = .004).

CONCLUSIONS

Children's cognitive development at school entry was more strongly associated with maternal education, children's age in kindergarten and number of months of schooling in first grade than MDS. Contrary to associations between MDS and child behavior problems, childcare attendance did not moderate associations between MDS and children's cognitive development at school entry.

Maternal depression and trajectories of adolescent depression: The role of stress responses in youth risk and resilience

This study examined the independent and interactive contributions of maternal depression and youth stress responses to trajectories of youth depression in adolescence. Youths (n = 165, M age = 12.43, SD = 1.18) and their maternal caregivers participated in a 4-year longitudinal study. Mothers and youths were administered diagnostic interviews assessing depression, and youths provided reports of their responses to peer stress. Consistent with an interactive model, adaptive responses to stress (high effortful engagement and low involuntary disengagement) buffered the effect of maternal depression on initial levels and trajectories of youth depression, with gender differences emerging. Consistent with a dual-risk model, maternal depression and maladaptive responses to stress (high effortful disengagement and involuntary engagement) contributed additive risks such that youths displayed the highest levels of depression when they were exposed to maternal depression and showed maladaptive stress responses. This research provides novel evidence that responses to stress contribute to individual differences in depression among offspring of depressed mothers, and suggests that responses to stress are an important target for efforts to promote resilience in at-risk youth.

Escolares que Convivem com a Depressão Materna Recorrente: Diferenças entre os Sexos

Resumo Há divergências na literatura quanto às diferenças entre os sexos na associação entre depressão materna e desenvolvimento infantil. Neste estudo, compararam-se diferenças entre os sexos relativas ao comportamento e desempenho escolar de crianças que conviviam com a depressão materna, correlacionando tais desfechos. Participaram 40 díades mãe-criança, tendo as mães diagnóstico de Transtorno Depressivo Recorrente. As crianças, de sete a 12 anos, foram divididas em grupos por sexo. Foi realizada aplicação de entrevista diagnóstica, do Questionário de Capacidades e Dificuldades e do Teste de Desempenho Escolar. As meninas apresentaram mais sintomas emocionais comparadas aos meninos. Constataram-se associações significativas entre comportamento e desempenho escolar apenas para as meninas, sinalizando maior vulnerabilidade destas meninas.

Child routines and parental adjustment as correlates of internalizing and externalizing symptoms in children diagnosed with ADHD

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common disorders of childhood, and the presence of comorbid externalizing and internalizing symptoms often result in severe negative long-term consequences. Multiple etiological factors contribute to the development of co-occurring symptoms. Family stability and consistency appear to be particularly important in effectively managing behavioral concerns. One important factor in producing consistency and stability is the use of routines. The current study examined how routines may be related to internalizing/externalizing symptoms in a clinical sample (N = 371) of children with ADHD (M age = 9.13, SD = 1.96; 77% male). After controlling for child age, gender, and parental adjustment, routines predicted both internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Specific subtypes of routines including Household, Discipline, and Homework Routines were found to significantly predict symptomatology. A positive relation was found between parental and child adjustment problems; however, support for routines moderating the relation between parent and child adjustment was not supported.

Family systems and ecological perspectives on the impact of deployment on military families

The scope of sustained military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has placed great demands on the Armed Forces of the United States, and accordingly, military families have been faced with deployments in more rapid succession than ever before. When military parents fulfill occupational duties during wartime, military children and families face multiple challenges, including extended separations, disruptions in family routines, and potentially compromised parenting related to traumatic exposure and subsequent mental health problems. Such challenges can begin to exert a significant toll on the well-being of both individuals and relationships (e.g., marital, parent-child) within military families. In order to respond more effectively to the needs of military families, it is essential that mental health clinicians and researchers have a better understanding of the challenges faced by military families throughout the entire deployment experience and the ways in which these challenges may have a cumulative impact over multiple deployments. Moreover, the mental health field must become better prepared to support service members and families across a rapidly evolving landscape of military operations around the world, including those who are making the transition from active duty to Veteran status and navigating a return to civilian life and those families in which parents will continue to actively serve and deploy in combat zones. In this article, we utilize family systems and ecological perspectives to advance our understanding of how military families negotiate repeated deployment experiences and how such experiences impact the well-being and adjustment of families at the individual, dyadic, and whole family level.

Canadian portrait of changes in family structure and preschool children’s behavioral outcomes

Whereas US-based data have contributed to our understanding of family composition changes over the last decades, data on Canadian families are limited, and previous studies have stressed the need for in depth, longitudinal investigations. This article begins to fill this gap in the literature by providing a current and detailed portrait of family composition changes from 1996 to 2008 (Study 1). Additionally, we performed an analysis of the role of specific child, parent and family characteristics, in interaction with family composition and family transition, in predicting pre-school children’s behavioral outcomes (Study 2). Using nationally-representative Canadian data collected from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), we focus our inquiry on a mean sample for 0–5-year-olds of 2,866 children at cycle 8 (2008). Results show increases in non-traditional family households over time, as well as significant relationships between child characteristics, household characteristics, and family processes in predicting three behavioral outcomes: emotional problems, hyperactivity/impulsivity, and physical aggression.

Parental depression confers greater prospective depression risk to females than males in emerging adulthood

Females are at greater risk of depression than males, a pattern arising in adolescence and continuing in adulthood. One hypothesis is that major risk factors operate more robustly for females. We tested whether parental depression history imposes greater prospective depression risk for female emerging adults in a large community sample (ages 18-19, N = 637). Utilizing linear mixed regressions to model symptom changes over 2 years, we found the predictive utility of parental depression varied by gender. Females had higher depression symptoms overall, and those with parental depression remained at high levels throughout the adulthood transition, compared to at-risk males whose elevated symptoms decreased. This effect was specific to offspring depression (versus anxiety) and was found only for parental depression (versus other disorders). Female emerging adults with a parental depression history are at increased risk for future depression symptom elevations, which may partially explain their increased risk for depressive disorders in adulthood.

Different trajectories of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents: predictors and differences in girls and boys

The development of depressive symptoms in childhood and adolescence can follow different pathways. This study examined heterogeneity in the development of self-reported depressive symptoms and the predictive influence of mothers' depressive symptoms, the number of life events, and loss events via growth mixture modeling over a four-year period in a large community sample of German children and adolescents (N = 3,902; mean age 11.39 years; 49.6% female). This procedure was conducted for the total sample as well as for separate samples of girls and boys. Four different classes of trajectories for the total and the girls' model were identified, but only three classes for the boys. Girls showed higher intercepts and stronger increases in symptoms over time, whereas boys displayed stronger decreases. In the total model, mothers' depressive symptoms and the number of life events significantly increased the level of depressive symptoms. In the gender models, only mothers' depressive symptoms showed significant influence on the level of symptoms in girls and boys, whereas for life events this was only true for boys. In every model, the significant predictors discriminated at least between some classes. Loss events showed no significant influence in any model. In sum, there are meaningful differences in the development of depressive symptoms in girls and boys. These results have several implications for prevention and future research.

Gender differences in psychosocial functioning of adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression: longitudinal findings from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study

PURPOSE

To explore longitudinally gender differences in the associations between psychosocial functioning, subjective well-being and self-esteem among adolescents with and without symptoms of anxiety and depression.

METHODS

Data were obtained from a major population-based Norwegian study, the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study, in which 1,092 boys and 1,262 girls (86% of all invited) completed an extensive self-report questionnaire at baseline (mean age 14.4 years) and at follow-up (mean age 18.4 years).

RESULTS

Gender was a moderator variable in the associations between symptoms of anxiety and depression and impairment, meaning that boys' functioning was impaired to a larger extent than girls' functioning. A statistically significant interaction effect between gender and symptoms of anxiety and depression was found at follow-up in terms of subjective well-being (p < 0.05), self-esteem (p < 0.05), academic problems (p < 0.01), behaviour problems (p < 0.01) and frequency of meeting friends (p < 0.001). Onset of symptoms between baseline and follow-up was associated with less frequent meetings with friends among boys, but not among girls. After remission of symptoms, boys still had more behaviour and academic problems, less frequently met friends and reported lower subjective well-being and self-esteem than boys who had no symptoms at both time points. No similar differences were found among the girls.

CONCLUSION

Previous and ongoing symptoms of anxiety and depression had more negative consequences for boys than for girls. These findings may contribute to improved assessment and intervention methods tailored differently for each gender.

A longitudinal study of maternal prenatal, postnatal and concurrent depressive symptoms and adolescent well-being

BACKGROUND

Maternal depression is known to be a risk for abnormal child development. Girls and boys have been found to respond differently to maternal depression. Although prenatal and postnatal depression has been widely studied, longitudinal studies of adolescent outcome are still rare.

METHODS

The original sample of 349 mothers in this longitudinal study was collected in 1989-1990 in Tampere, Finland. At the latest stage, of the 327 contacted in 2006, 191 mothers and 192 adolescents aged 16 to 17 years participated in the study. Maternal depressive symptoms were screened using the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) prenatally, postnatally and at the latest stage. Adolescent outcome was examined using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and the Youth Self Report (YSR).

RESULTS

Maternal concurrent depressive symptoms were associated with adolescent behavioral and emotional problems in both genders. Maternal prenatal depressive symptoms were associated with Externalizing Problems in the YSR and boys' lower Social Competence in both the CBCL and YSR. Maternal postnatal depressive symptoms were associated with boys' lower Social Competence both in the CBCL and YSR and Externalizing Problems in the YSR.

LIMITATIONS

Being a longitudinal normal population sample, the number of symptomatic mothers and adolescents is relatively small and the number of drop-outs is relatively high. Clinical evaluation of mothers and adolescents is also lacking.

CONCLUSIONS

Maternal prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms are a risk to adolescent boys' wellbeing and concurrent depressive symptoms a risk for both girls' and boys' well-being. This long-term influence should be noted when treating women with depressive symptoms throughout motherhood.

Offspring of parents with recurrent depression: which features of parent depression index risk for offspring psychopathology?

BACKGROUND

Parental depression is associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorder in offspring, although outcomes vary. At present relatively little is known about how differences in episode timing, severity, and course of recurrent depression relate to risk in children. The aim of this study was to consider the offspring of parents with recurrent depression and examine whether a recent episode of parental depression indexes risk for offspring psychopathology over and above these other parental depression features.

METHODS

Three hundred and thirty seven recurrently depressed parents and their offspring (aged 9-17) were interviewed as part of an ongoing study, the 'Early Prediction of Adolescent Depression Study'. The Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment was used to assess two child outcomes; presence of a DSM-IV psychiatric disorder and number of DSM-IV child-rated depression symptoms.

RESULTS

Children whose parents had experienced a recent episode of depression reported significantly more depression symptoms, and odds of child psychiatric disorder were doubled relative to children whose parents had not experienced a recent episode of depression. Past severity of parental depression was also significantly associated with child depression symptoms.

LIMITATIONS

Statistical analyses preclude causal conclusions pertaining to parental depression influences on offspring psychopathology; several features of parental depression were recalled retrospectively.

CONCLUSIONS

This study suggests that particular features of parental depression, specifically past depression severity and presence of a recent episode, may be important indicators of risk for child psychiatric disorder and depressive symptoms.

Maternal depression and child and adolescent depression symptoms: an exploratory test for moderation by CRHR1, FKBP5 and NR3C1 gene variants

This study investigated moderation of the association between recurrent maternal depression and offspring depression symptoms by a selection of biologically relevant gene variants. 271 children/adolescents (aged 9.00 to 16.00 years) whose mothers had experienced at least two episodes of DSM-IV major depression and 165 controls (aged 12.25 to 16.67 years) drawn from a population-based twin register were used. Seven single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from three genes were genotyped in children. The genes were the Corticotropin Receptor Type 1 gene (CRHR1), the gene coding for the FK506 binding protein 5 (FKBP5) and the Glucocorticoid receptor gene (NR3c1) along with a haplotype formed by the SNPs in CRHR1. A significant association was found between recurrent maternal depression and depression symptoms in offspring. None of the SNPs were associated with offspring depression symptoms and associations did not differ according to the presence of recurrent maternal depression. However, caution is required due to a relatively small sample size.

Gender differences in subjective well-being, self-esteem and psychosocial functioning in adolescents with symptoms of anxiety and depression: findings from the Nord-Trøndelag Health Study

Gender differences in the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression during adolescence are well documented. However, little attention has been given to differences in subjective well-being, self-esteem and psychosocial functioning between boys and girls with symptoms of anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the associations between such symptoms and subjective well-being, self-esteem, school functioning and social relations in adolescents. Data were taken from a major population-based Norwegian study, the Nord-Trøndelag Health study (HUNT), in which 8984 (91% of all invited) adolescents, aged 13-19 years, completed an extensive self-report questionnaire. Although prevalence rates of symptoms of anxiety and depression were higher in girls than in boys, a significant interaction between gender and symptoms of anxiety and depression was found in respect of each of the following outcome variables: subjective well-being, self-esteem, academic problems, frequency of meeting friends and the feeling of not having enough friends. These interactions indicate that the associations between symptoms of anxiety and depression and lower subjective well-being and self-esteem, more academic problems in school and lower social functioning were stronger for boys than for girls. Our findings may contribute to an earlier assessment and more efficient treatment of male adolescent anxiety and depression.