The Associations between Mothers' and Grandmothers' Depressive Symptoms, Parenting Stress, and Relationship with Children: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model

Latent profile analysis of depression and its influencing factors in older adults raising grandchildren in China

OBJECTIVE

To explore the latent profile of depression in older adults raising grandchildren in China, and to analyze the differences in the characteristics of the different profiles of the population and the factors influencing them.

METHODS

This study utilized the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Through a cross-sectional study, the latent profile analysis was used to analyze the potential classification of depression among older adults raising grandchildren, and using ordered multi-categorical logistic regression analyses to assess the effects of each factor on their different classifications.

RESULTS

The 1271 older adults raising grandchildren with depression symptoms were divided into three categories: low-level depression (55.4%), moderate-level depression (31.2%), and high-level depression (13.4%). Ordered multi-categorical Logistic results showed: Gender, marital status, pension insurance, physical health status, life satisfaction, and IADL were predictors of latent profile classification of depression symptoms in older adults raising grandchildren (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In the future of primary care, it will be more meaningful to provide targeted interventions for different subgroups of depression in older adults raising grandchildren.

The Lived Experience of Postpartum Intergenerational Conflict of Vietnamese American Women with their Vietnamese Immigrant Parents: It's A Generational Thing!

PURPOSE

US-born Vietnamese women who are in their childbearing years are more likely to identify with "western" perspectives when compared to their immigrant mothers who were born in Vietnam. Still, a gap in knowledge exists of their intergenerational differences. The purpose of this study was to explore and better understand Vietnamese American women's experiences of postpartum intergenerational conflict.

STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS

van Manen's methodological approach (1997) was used. The purposive sample included 11 US-born Vietnamese women who experienced postpartum intergenerational conflict with their parents. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic analysis. The researcher transcended the themes through music. Songs and lyrics were arranged for guitar to bring the phenomenon to life.

RESULTS

Four themes were identified: (1) "It's a Generational Thing!" (Một điều thế hệ): Leaning both ways; (2) "To rebel or not" (Nổi loạn hay không): Weighing the evidence of postpartum cultural practices; (3) "Stand My Ground" (Giữ vững lập trường của tôi): Keeping my newborn safe and healthy; and (4) "See Me" (Nhìn con): My mental health overshadowed by my mother's thoughts. This study revealed that the intergenerational conflict was influenced by the family's understanding over the division of infant care tasks, disagreements over cultural practices, and generational differences such as age, consistent with previous research.

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Tailored interventions for Vietnamese American women should consider the family as a whole. Nurses can assess proactively in prenatal care if there are cultural issues such as family hierarchy, gender, and history influencing one's choices or maternal autonomy.

Maternal parenting stress and social-emotional problems of Chinese preschoolers: The role of the mother-child relationship and maternal adverse childhood experiences

BACKGROUND

Previous research suggests that maternal parenting stress is a significant predictor of social-emotional problems in children. However, little is known regarding the mother-child relationship and the effect of maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on this association.

METHODS

Three waves of longitudinal panel data were collected from 2893 Chinese preschoolers with a follow-up interval of 6 months. The mothers of preschoolers were asked to complete anonymous questionnaires concerning demographic variables, maternal ACEs and parenting stress in Wave 1, mother-child relationships in Wave 2, and children's social-emotional problems in Wave 3. The parallel mediation model was conducted to analyze the mediating role of three dimensions of mother-child relationships, and the moderation model was conducted to examine the moderating role of maternal ACEs.

RESULTS

The results showed that maternal parenting stress predicted children's social-emotional problems directly or indirectly through the mother-child relationship, with an intimate mother-child relationship mediating this main effect negatively but a conflicted and dependent mother-child relationship mediating this main effect positively. In addition, moderating results indicated that the main effect of maternal parenting stress on children's social-emotional problems was more marked among participants with at least one maternal ACEs than those without maternal ACEs. Furthermore, the moderating effect was only detected in children whose mothers had a high school education or less.

LIMITATIONS

The subjectivity of mothers' reports may somewhat reduce the credibility due to the possible overestimation or underestimation of children's social-emotional problems.

CONCLUSION

These findings provide new evidence for the effects of maternal parenting stress on children's social-emotional development and highlight the need for more attention to children with mothers having ACE exposure, lower educational level and poor parent-child relationships.

(In)Congruence in Perceived Mother-child Cohesion and Informants' Depressive Symptoms: A Dyadic Response Surface Analysis

Mother-child cohesion, reflecting the emotional connection between mothers and children, is a protective factor for individuals' mental health. The Modified Operations Triad Model suggests that children and mothers hold either congruent or incongruent views of their perceived cohesion, which reflects family functioning and is an indication of future mental health outcomes for family members. Despite increasing research on the impact of (in)congruence in perceived family functioning on children's mental health, few studies concurrently address the mental health of both mothers and children, overlooking their interdependence. This longitudinal study with multi-informant reports explored the long-term and developmental effects of (in)congruence in perceived mother-child cohesion on informants' depressive symptoms. A total of 577 families participated at the first time point, comprising 577 children (52.34% girls, Mage = 10.11 years) and 577 mothers (Mage = 37.32 years). The Dyadic Response Surface Analysis revealed that mother-child congruence at high levels of cohesion (versus low levels) predicted fewer depressive symptoms in mothers and children after three and nine months, as well as decreased depressive symptoms over nine months. Children who reported higher levels of cohesion than their mothers experienced fewer depressive symptoms after three months. Mothers with higher levels of cohesion than their children reported fewer depressive symptoms after three months. The current findings emphasize the importance of identifying and resolving discrepancies in perceived mother-child cohesion between mothers and children to promote a healthy family environment.

Caregivers' joint depressive symptoms and preschoolers' daily routines in Chinese three-generation families: Does household chaos matter?

The benefits of routines for children have been consistently demonstrated in previous literature. However, factors that may confer risks for child routines have seldom been examined, particularly in families where parents and grandparents co-care the children. This study aimed to investigate the associations of parents' and grandparents' depressive symptoms with preschoolers' daily routines in Chinese three-generation families and to determine whether household chaos mediated or moderated the associations. The participants were from 171 urban three-generation families where mothers, fathers, and grandmothers (97 paternal and 74 maternal) were primary caregivers. Mothers, fathers, and grandmothers reported their depressive symptoms at Wave 1; at Wave 2 (during the COVID-19 pandemic), caregivers reported household chaos and child routines. The results revealed that child routines were negatively predicted by parents' joint depressive symptoms rather than grandmothers' depressive symptoms. In the associations, household chaos acted as a mediator rather than a moderator. Specifically, household chaos marginally mediated the associations between parents' and grandmothers' depressive symptoms and child routines only in maternal three-generation families. These findings suggest that in three-generation families, caregivers with more depressive symptoms may elicit more chaotic family environments, which may in turn compromise their children's daily routines.