The Role of Stigma in Parental Help-Seeking for Perceived Child Behavior Problems in Urban, Low-Income African American Parents

Abstract The current study aimed to understand the mediating and/or moderating role of prenatal hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis function in the association between maternal adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems at age 4. The influence of timing and child sex were also explored. Participants were 248 mother–child dyads enrolled in a prospective longitudinal cohort study (the Alberta Pregnancy Outcomes and Nutrition Study). Maternal ACEs were retrospectively assessed while maternal self-reported depression and diurnal salivary cortisol were assessed prospectively at 6–26 weeks gestation (T1) and 27–37 weeks gestation (T2). Maternal report of child internalizing and externalizing problems was assessed at 4 years (T3). Results revealed that there was a negative indirect association between maternal ACEs and child internalizing behavior via a higher maternal cortisol awakening response (CAR). Maternal diurnal cortisol slope moderated the association between maternal ACEs and child behavior problems. Some of these effects were dependent on child sex, such that higher ACEs and a flatter diurnal slope at T1 was associated with more internalizing behavior in female children and more externalizing behavior in male children. There were timing effects such that the mediating and moderating effects were strongest at T1.

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A Step Beyond Maternal Depression and Child Behavior Problems: The Role of Mother–Child Aggression

Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology ◽

10.1080/15374416.2015.1094740 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 47 (4) ◽

pp. 634-641 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Miguel T. Villodas ◽

Daniel M. Bagner ◽

Richard Thompson

Keyword(s):

Behavior Problems ◽

Maternal Depression ◽

Child Behavior ◽

Child Behavior Problems ◽

Child Aggression

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Preschool children at social risk: Chronicity and timing of maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems at school and at home

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579400004478 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 371-387 ◽

Cited By ~ 94

Author(s):

Lisbeth Alpern ◽

Karlen Lyons-Ruth

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Behavior Problems ◽

Child Behavior ◽

Low Income ◽

Child Behavior Problems ◽

Father Absence ◽

Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽

Withdrawn Behavior ◽

Depressed Mothers ◽

At Home

AbstractThe current study investigated the relationship between previous, recent, or chronic maternal depressive symptoms and subtypes of child behavior problems rated by teachers and mothers among 64 low-income children aged 4–6 years. Sixty-nine percent of mothers with high depressive symptom levels at the preschool assessment had also reported high symptom levels during the child's infancy. Children whose mothers reported depressive symptoms at both ages exhibited significantly elevated rates of hostile behavior problems in the classroom and at home compared to children of never-depressed mothers. Children of mothers who were previously but not currently depressed showed significantly more anxious and withdrawn behavior at school and at home, while children of recently depressed mothers were more hyperactive and demanding. Child cognitive scores and father absence were also related to behavior problems, but these variables did not mediate the independent effects of chronicity and timing of maternal depressive symptoms on the types of child symptoms displayed.

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