Reciprocal Associations Among Maternal and Child Characteristics of At‐Risk Families: A Longitudinal Actor–Partner Interdependence Model

Researchers have found linear associations among maternal and child characteristics. However, family systems theorists suggest that relationships are more complex and family members are interdependent. We used actor–partner interdependence modeling to unravel associations among maternal and child characteristics to predict outcomes in adolescence. We used data from 361 mother–child dyads from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect and found both actor and partner effects. Maternal depression and history of victimization were associated with children's later reports of lower mother–adolescent relationship quality. Children's perceptions of relationship quality were also associated with mothers' later depressive symptoms and perceptions of relationship quality. Overall, results highlighted interdependence among mothers and their children over time. We discuss implications for marriage and family therapists.     

Maternal Care and Control as Mediators in the Relationship Between Mothers’ and Adult Children’s Psychosocial Problems

The current research investigated the relationship between mothers’ and adult children’s psychosocial problems through two different aspects of maternal interactions. Data were collected from family triads (N = 286), including a mother, a child, and a sibling. Mothers and their adult children completed measures of depression, loneliness, and self-esteem. The assessment of the maternal interaction variables (i.e., maternal care and maternal control) involved the perspectives of a sibling to minimize common method variance. Results partially supported the hypothesized model, wherein maternal care (but not maternal control) mediated the relationship between mothers’ depression, loneliness, and self-esteem to that of their children. Specifically, mothers who reported higher levels of psychosocial problems had children who reported that their mothers were less caring and, in turn, less maternal care was associated with higher levels of psychosocial problems in their young adult children.     

Pathways Among Marital Distress,Parental Symptomatology,and Child Adjustment

A community sample of 295 mothers, fathers, and children (M age = 11.14 years, SD = 2.32 years) rated marital distress, maternal and paternal psychological symptoms, and child adjustment. The predicted direct relations between these family and child variables were demonstrated for both fathers and mothers. Tests of pathways among these variables were conducted for separate but complementary mediation models. Maternal and paternal symptoms mediated the association between marital distress and child adjustment. Marital distress mediated the link between fathers’ symptoms and child adjustment, but the direct pathway between mothers’ symptoms and child adjustment remained. Pubertal status was modestly related to higher levels of family stressors. Joint implications of marital distress and parental symptoms for child adjustment are discussed.     

Chronic and Proximate Depression Among Mothers: Implications for Child Well‐Being

This article uses data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Survey (N = 2,427) to examine the association between the chronicity and timing of maternal depression and child well‐being. Maternal depression, particularly chronic depression, is linked to internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors in children, and children have worse behaviors when mothers report proximate depression. Children of depressed and nondepressed mothers have similar cognitive outcomes. Results also suggest that boys are more vulnerable to maternal depression than girls and that socioeconomic advantage does not buffer children from the consequences of maternal depression. Given that impairments in early childhood may place children on disadvantaged life‐course trajectories, early intervention and treatment of depressed mothers may help ameliorate social disparities.     

Long‐Term Effects of Fathers' Depressed Mood on Youth Internalizing Symptoms in Early Adulthood

While an accumulating body of research has documented increased risk of psychopathology among children of depressed fathers, most studies have used cross‐sectional design, and little is known about offspring outcomes beyond childhood. Using prospective data from a community sample (N = 395), we found that paternal depressive symptoms when children were in early adolescence (age 13) predicted offspring depressive and anxiety symptoms at age 21, controlling for baseline youth symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, and other known correlates of internalizing problems in early adulthood. Associations were not moderated by maternal depressive symptoms or child gender. These results suggest that the unique and long‐term effects of paternal depression on children's risk of mood disorders may persist into adulthood.     

Childhood victimization and subsequent adult revictimization assessed in a nationally representative sample of women and men

The purpose of this study was to identify whether experiences of childhood physical and/or sexual victimization would increase women's and men's risk for victimization in adulthood by different perpetrators (any perpetrator regardless of the relationship to the victim; intimate partner perpetrator; non-intimate perpetrator) using a nationally representative sample. Results of hierarchical logistic regression analyses indicated that childhood victimization increased the risk for adulthood victimization by any perpetrator for men and women, and by an intimate partner for women but not men. Female and male victims of physical and/or sexual child abuse are at higher risk for adult victimization by non-intimate perpetrators. These results suggest the appropriateness of interventions among adults or young adults who have been victims of child abuse, to prevent any future victimization in adulthood. To guide the development of such prevention programs, research is needed to identify factors that affect the probability of adulthood victimization among child abuse victims.     

Substance Abusing Mothers with a History of Childhood Abuse and Their Children's Depressive Symptoms: The Efficacy of Family Therapy

This study examined the associations among maternal history of childhood abuse, substance use, and depressive symptoms and the change in children's depressive symptoms in therapy. Mothers (N = 183) were randomly assigned into either a family or an individual treatment condition. Mothers were assessed for their childhood abuse retrospectively, baseline depressive symptoms, and substance use, whereas their children's depressive symptoms were measured five times during 1.5 years. Maternal childhood abuse was associated with a slower decline in child depressive symptoms through elevated maternal depressive symptoms, only in individual treatment. Maternal substance use further moderated this mediation pathway. This study supports the efficacy of family therapy in protecting children of mothers with a substance use disorder and a history of childhood abuse.     

Do Child Abuse and Interparental Violence Lead to Adulthood Family Violence?

The cycle of violence posits that victimized children grow up to victimize others. Three forms of the cycle have never been tested: whether exposure to physical victimization and interparental violence additively or interactively increase risk for adulthood (a) child abuse perpetration; (b) partner abuse perpetration; or (c) partner abuse victimization. These hypotheses were tested in a nationally representative data set (1985 National Family Violence Survey) comprising 6,002 participants. Dually exposed, compared to singly exposed, women had significantly increased risk for adulthood family violence. Frequency of family‐of‐origin violence predicted adulthood child and partner abuse through both main and interactive effects.     

The impact of emotional and physical violence during pregnancy on maternal and child health at one year post-partum

Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy is increasingly recognized as having a negative impact on both the mother and her unborn child. The current study extends previous work to examine the impact of both physical and emotional IPV separately and cumulatively on the mother and her child. Specifically, we used the Fragile Families dataset (N = 3961) to determine the effect of emotional and physical IPV on women and children at one year postpartum. Analyses revealed that both physical and emotional victimization have independent and negative impacts on mothers and their children. Emotional victimization was associated with poorer overall health for the mother, elevated maternal depression, poorer overall health for the child, and difficult child temperament. Experiencing a combination of physical and emotional victimization resulted in more problematic outcomes. Implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Maternal prenatal mood problems and lower maternal emotional availability associated with lower quality of child's emotional availability and higher negative affect during still-face procedure

Our aim was to study the effects of maternal perinatal mood and maternal emotional availability on child emotional availability and negative affect during the still-face procedure (SFP). The sample included 214 women who participated in a prospective study. We assessed maternal mood problems using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and PRAQ questionnaire during pregnancy and using STAI and EPDS questionnaires during pregnancy and at 6 months after delivery. Maternal and child emotional availability were studied using the Emotional Availability Scales during the SFP at 6 months. We observed and quantified child's negative affect during SFP episodes. We found that mothers with maternal mood problems (anxiety and/or depression) during pregnancy, but not postnatally, showed less optimal maternal structuring during the SFP, and the children showed lower involvement and responsiveness during interactions with their mothers. Furthermore, lower maternal emotional availability was related to the child's higher negative affect during the SFP. Our findings underline the independent roles of both prenatal stress exposure and maternal caregiving behavior in a child's socioemotional development.     

Maternal Child Sexual Abuse Is Associated With Lower Maternal Warmth Toward Daughters but Not Sons

Mothers with a history of child sexual abuse report less warmth toward their children, but whether this association differs by child gender is unknown. We examined the association of maternal child sexual abuse and warmth across child gender, accounting for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and child physical abuse. We verbally administered self-report measures to a cross-sectional sample of 154 mothers with a child between 8 and 12 years old. Eighty-five mothers based warmth responses on a son, and 69 on a daughter. We conducted a hierarchical multiple regression, including child gender, maternal child sexual abuse, child physical abuse, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and 4 two-way interaction terms with child gender. Maternal depression predicted decreased warmth, regardless of child gender, and maternal child sexual abuse predicted decreased warmth, but only toward daughters. Given previous research suggesting that maternal warmth predicts child well-being, the current finding may represent an important avenue of intergenerational transmission of risk in girls.     

Child maltreatment, revictimization, and violent behavior

The study investigates the cumulative impact of child maltreatment and victimization in adolescence on violent behavior in young adulthood in a nonclinical high-risk sample. The sample consists of 1,526 incarcerated young men (14 to 24 years) who were interviewed with standardized instruments during their prison term. Violent and nonviolent offenders with and without repeated victimization experiences throughout the life cycle were compared. Results show that child maltreatment doubles the risk for violent victimization in adolescence. Repeated victimization experiences in adolescence heighten the risk for later violent offending. This is the case for officially registered violence and self-reported violent behavior. In addition, child maltreatment increased the probability of self-reported violence as well. However, the interaction effect of victimization in childhood and victimization in early adolescence counteracted the main effects. Being repeatedly victimized throughout the early life cycle slightly reduced the probability of being a frequent offender.     

Marital Conflict Trajectories and Associations With Children's Disruptive Behavior

We seek to identify heterogeneous trajectories of marital conflict during the early childhood period, identify predictors associated with these trajectories, and examine associations between trajectory group membership and children's disruptive behavior. Participants were 469 families examined 4 times when the children were 2 to 54 months of age. Maternal reports of marital conflict, adverse childhood experiences, depressive symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics were collected, and averaged maternal and paternal reports of child disruptive problems were used. Using growth mixture modeling, 3 trajectories of marital conflict were identified: high increasing (21.8%), high decreasing (7%), and low stable (71.2%). Maternal adverse childhood experiences predicted increased risk of belonging in the high‐increasing group, whereas depressive symptoms predicted increased risk of belonging in the high‐decreasing group. Importantly, children of mothers in the high‐increasing group exhibited higher levels of disruptive behavior at 54 months when compared with children of mothers in the high‐decreasing and low‐stable groups.     

Linking maternal psychopathology to children's excessive crying and sleeping problems in a large representative German sample—The mediating role of social isolation and bonding difficulties

Attaining self-regulation is a major developmental task in infancy, in which many children show transient difficulties. Persistent, clinically relevant difficulties in self-regulation include excessive crying or sleeping disorders. Many families with affected children are burdened with multiple psychosocial risk. This suggests that regulatory problems are best conceptualized as the maladaptive interplay of overly burdened parents and a dysfunctional parent–child interaction. The current study examines whether social isolation and bonding difficulties function as mediating mechanisms linking maternal psychopathology to (1) children's excessive crying and (2) sleeping problems. The sample comprised N = 6598 mothers (M = 31.51 years) of children between zero to three years of age (M = 14.08 months, 50.1% girls). In addition to socio demographic data, the written questionnaire included information on maternal depression/anxiety, isolation, bonding, and children's regulatory problems. Hypotheses were tested with a mediation model controlling for psychosocial risk and child characteristics. As expected, maternal symptoms of depression/anxiety were linked to infants‘ excessive crying and sleeping problems. Social isolation and bonding difficulties mediated this association for excessive crying as well as for sleeping problems, but social isolation was a single mediator for sleeping problems only. The findings provide important insights in the mediating pathways linking maternal psychopathology to children's regulatory problems.     

The Association between the Parent–Child Relationship and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression: The Roles of Attachment and Perceived Spouse Attachment Behaviors

Research shows that the parent–child relationship affects attachment security, which correlates with anxiety and depression in adulthood. Additional research shows that romantic attachment behaviors may supersede individual attachment security and buffer against negative processes. Using data from 680 married couples in the general population, we examined whether attachment mediates the link between the parent–child relationship and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adulthood. In addition, we tested whether perceived spouse attachment behaviors moderate the effects of attachment insecurity. There was an indirect effect of poor parent–child relationships on symptoms via insecure attachment. Perception of spouse's attachment behaviors was related to depression for both spouses, and they moderated the effect of attachment insecurity on depressive symptoms for husbands. Clinical implications are discussed.     

Economic Pressure, Maternal Depression, and Child Adjustment in Latino Families: An Exploratory Study

The goal of this study was to investigate the impact of poverty and economic pressure upon the adjustment of mothers and children in immigrant Latino families. Participants included 56 first generation Latina mothers who completed questionnaires addressing economic difficulties, depression, social support, and behavior problems exhibited by their children (30 boys, 26 girls) who ranged in ages from 4 to 13. Results indicate that maternal depression mediates the relationship between maternal economic pressure and child adjustment. Social support was found to further moderate the relationship between maternal depression and child internalizing problems. Gender differences indicated that relations were stronger among mothers of boys than mothers of girls.     

The Continuation of Intimate Partner Violence From Adolescence to Young Adulthood

Little attention has been paid to whether violence in adolescent romantic relationships is associated with relationship violence later in young adulthood. This study examined the continuation of intimate partner violence (IPV) from adolescence to young adulthood. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, results from negative binomial models and propensity score models showed that being victimized by relationship partners in adolescence was significantly associated with both perpetration and victimization in romantic relationships in young adulthood. Women reported higher levels of perpetration and lower levels of victimization than men did. Those who were living together (married or cohabiting) reported higher levels of victimization and perpetration than those who were dating. Further, such associations existed beyond the effects of parent–child violence and general aggression tendencies, suggesting the continuation of relationship‐specific violence. Finally, these patterns persisted after controlling for participants' age, race and ethnicity, parental education, and family structure.     

Maternal Depression and the Ability to Facilitate Joint Attention With 18‐Month‐Olds

Maternal depression has been associated with the mother‐child dyad's ability to engage in joint attention. This study of 69 depressed and 63 control mothers and their 18‐month‐olds addresses how aspects of maternal psychopathology are related to joint attention during a snack interaction. Although nondepressed‐mother dyads appeared better at joint attention than depressed‐mother dyads, this difference was not statistically significant. Among the depressed‐mother dyads, joint attention was related to presence of a comorbid Axis I diagnosis (usually an anxiety disorder) versus a diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD) only. Surprisingly, dyads with mothers who met criteria for a comorbid diagnosis were better at joint attention than those with MDD only, despite the fact that those mothers were likely to have longer and more severe depressive histories. The relationship between comorbid status and joint attention was mediated by the mother's affect. Rationale for the paradoxical finding that the “more pathological” mothers had greater success in engaging in joint attention is discussed.