Linking Maternal Depression to Adolescent Internalizing Symptoms: Transmission of Cognitive Vulnerabilities

AbstractAlthough the majority of research attention to the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis in stress-related disorders and as a marker of allostatic load has focused on overactivation of this stress system, theory and data clearly indicate that underactivation is also an important type of dysregulation. In the current study we focused on low cortisol, exploring a constellation of risk factors including stress exposure, maternal depression, and attenuated basal and stress reactive cortisol in two samples of children. The first sample was comprised of 110 preschoolers living in high-stress environments. Cortisol was assessed across the day at home and at child care as well as across two stress paradigms. These data were used to classify whether children's HPA axis activity was attenuated. Serious family financial strain, maternal depression, and attenuated cortisol all made unique contributions in models predicting current clinical levels of internalizing symptoms as rated by mothers and teachers. The second sample was 166 third, sixth, and ninth graders studied five times across a 1-year period. Maternal and child depression were determined through structured clinical interviews, and stress exposure was assessed via checklist and interview techniques with the child and parent. Cortisol was assessed multiple times across a lab visit at Time 1, and these data were combined into a single continuous measure. Cortisol concentrations across the lab visit interacted with stress exposure across the year such that children with lower average cortisol at Time 1 and increased stress across the 12 months showed elevated levels of internalizing symptoms. Based on these and related data we propose that prior to puberty low cortisol may be an important marker of allostatic load, particularly for risk of depression and anxiety.

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The gendered relationship between maternal depression and adolescent internalizing symptoms

Social Science & Medicine ◽

10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.114464 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 114464

Author(s):

Michelle Sarah Livings

Keyword(s):

Maternal Depression ◽

Internalizing Symptoms

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Stress hormone levels of children of depressed mothers

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579402002080 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 333-349 ◽

Cited By ~ 165

Author(s):

SHARON B. ASHMAN ◽

GERALDINE DAWSON ◽

HERACLES PANAGIOTIDES ◽

EMILY YAMADA ◽

CHARLES W. WILKINSON

Keyword(s):

Stress Response ◽

Maternal Depression ◽

Salivary Cortisol ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Baseline Cortisol ◽

History Of ◽

Depressed Mothers ◽

Cortisol Levels ◽

History Of Depression ◽

Laboratory Stressor

Research suggests that disruptions in early caretaking can have long-term effects on the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which mediates the stress response. Children of depressed mothers are at increased risk for developing internalizing problems in part because of disruptions in their caretaking environment. The present study investigated whether children of depressed mothers exhibit elevated salivary cortisol levels. Salivary cortisol samples were collected from 45 7- to 8-year-old children of mothers with a history of depression and 29 children of nondepressed mothers. Samples were collected soon after arrival to the laboratory and after a mild laboratory stressor and at home after wakeup and before bedtime. Children who had elevated levels of internalizing symptoms and whose mothers had a history of depression showed elevated laboratory baseline cortisol levels. Children who were reported to have clinically significant internalizing symptoms were also more likely to show an elevated stress response to a mild laboratory stressor. When the longitudinal history of maternal depression was examined, maternal depression during the child's first 2 years of life was the best predictor of elevations in baseline cortisol at age 7 years. This study provides evidence that internalizing symptoms exist in conjunction with a more reactive hormonal stress system in children of depressed mothers. The results also provide preliminary evidence that exposure to maternal depression in the first 2 years of life may be related to children's cortisol levels later in life.

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Transactional processes in child disruptive behavior and maternal depression: A longitudinal study from early childhood to adolescence

Development and Psychopathology ◽

10.1017/s0954579409000091 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 139-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 86

Author(s):

Heather E. Gross ◽

Daniel S. Shaw ◽

Rebecca A. Burwell ◽

Daniel S. Nagin

Keyword(s):

Maternal Depression ◽

Problem Behavior ◽

Disruptive Behavior ◽

Low Income ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Child Psychopathology ◽

Adolescent Problem Behavior ◽

Early Child ◽

Child Problem Behavior ◽

Child Disruptive Behavior

AbstractAlthough much has been written about the utility of applying Sameroff and Chandler's transactional perspective to the study of child psychopathology, relatively few researchers have used such an approach to trace the emergence of child problem behavior from infancy to adolescence. Using a sample of 289 male toddlers from predominantly low-income families, the current study examined associations between various forms of early child disruptive behavior, subsequent trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms over the course of 8 years, and adolescent problem behavior. Results indicated that early child noncompliance was the most robust predictor of more chronic and elevated trajectories of maternal depression, which in turn discriminated teacher and youth reports of adolescent antisocial behavior but not internalizing symptoms. The findings were consistent with transactional perspectives of developmental psychopathology that have emphasized the dynamic interplay between child and parent characteristics.

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Current and Past Maternal Depression, Maternal Interaction Behaviors, and Children’s Externalizing and Internalizing Symptoms

Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology ◽

10.1007/s10802-007-9197-1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 527-537 ◽

Cited By ~ 112

Author(s):

Cynthia J. Ewell Foster ◽

Judy Garber ◽

Joseph A. Durlak

Keyword(s):

Maternal Depression ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Externalizing And Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Maternal Interaction ◽

Interaction Behaviors

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The effects of maternal depression on mothers’ perceptions of the emotional and behavioural problems of their internationally adopted children

10.21203/rs.3.rs-271280/v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Krista Liskola ◽

Hanna Raaska ◽

Helena Lapinleimu ◽

Jari Lipsanen ◽

Jari Sinkkonen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Maternal Depression ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Externalizing Symptoms ◽

Behavioural Problems ◽

Adopted Children ◽

Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽

Emotional And Behavioural Problems ◽

Adoptive Mothers ◽

Internationally Adopted Children

Abstract Background: Even though child psychopathology assessment guidelines emphasise comprehensive multi-method, multimodal, and multi-informant methodologies (Pelham, Fabiano, & Massetti, 2005), maternal report symptom-rating scales often serve as the predominant source of information. Research has shown that parental mood symptomatology affects their reports of their offspring’s psychopathology. For example, the depression-distortion hypothesis suggests that maternal depression promotes a negative bias in mothers’ perceptions of their children’s behavioural and emotional problems (Gartstein, Bridgett, Dishion, & Kaufman, 2009). We investigated this difference in perception between adoptive mothers and their internationally adopted children. Most previous studies have suffered from the potential bias caused by the fact that parents and children share genetic risks. Our study design allows the elimination of passive gene-environment correlation, which is a phenomenon that occurs when there is a shared genetic background between a rearing parent and a child (Harold et al., 2011; Jaffee & Price, 2007; Price & Jaffee, 2008).Methods: Data were derived from the Finnish Adoption (FinAdo) survey study (a subsample of adopted children aged between 9 and 12 years; N = 222). The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) (Achenbach & Ruffle, 2000) was used to assess the emotional and behavioural problems and competences of the adopted children. The CBCL was completed by the adoptive mothers and the adopted children. Maternal depressive symptoms were measured using the short version of the General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg & Hillier, 1979).Results: On average, mothers reported fewer total CBCL symptoms in their children than the children themselves (0.25 vs 0.38, p-value < 0.01 for difference). Mothers’ depressive symptoms moderated the discrepancy in reporting internalizing symptoms (β = -0.14 and p-value 0.01 for interaction), the total symptoms scores (β = -0.22 and p-value < 0.001 for interaction), and externalizing symptoms in girls in the CBCL.Limitations: The major limitation of our study was its cross-sectional design and the fact that we only collected data in the form of questionnaires.Conclusions: The results of our research support the depression-distortion hypothesis concerning the association between maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing symptoms and externalizing symptoms in girls in a sample without genetic bias.

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Evaluating Structural Models of Cognitive Vulnerabilities: Transdiagnostic and Specific Pathways to Internalizing Symptoms

Assessment ◽

10.1177/1073191120915287 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 107319112091528

Author(s):

Ruth Y. N. Poh ◽

Sici Zhuang ◽

Xiang Ling Ong ◽

Ryan Y. Hong

Keyword(s):

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Bifactor Model ◽

Negative Evaluation ◽

Dysfunctional Attitudes ◽

Specific Level ◽

Vulnerability Factor ◽

Cognitive Vulnerabilities ◽

Individual Vulnerability ◽

Internalizing Psychopathology ◽

And Gender

The structure of cognitive vulnerabilities to anxiety and depression was examined via a hierarchical approach to examine the usefulness of a bifactor model for identifying a broad transdiagnostic (i.e., common core) factor versus disorder-specific variables (i.e., unique dimensions) in predicting internalizing psychopathology. Several models (i.e., single factor, correlated factor, single hierarchical, and bifactor models) were evaluated in undergraduate ( n = 351) and adolescent ( n = 385) samples. Across both samples, the bifactor model exhibited comparable good fit as the correlated and single hierarchical models. This model comprised a core transdiagnostic vulnerability factor and six specific factors (i.e., negative cognitive style, dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative style, intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety sensitivity, and fear of negative evaluation). Although the transdiagnostic factor predicted a general internalizing symptom factor, unique fear-related specific-level associations between individual vulnerability and symptom remained significant. Moreover, the transdiagnostic vulnerability factor predicted internalizing symptoms, even after controlling for personality and gender. These findings highlight the importance of advancing an integrative etiologic model of internalizing psychopathology.

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Developmental Trajectories and Origins of a Core Cognitive Vulnerability to Internalizing Symptoms in Middle Childhood

Clinical Psychological Science ◽

10.1177/2167702616679875 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 299-315 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Ryan Y. Hong ◽

Stephanie S. M. Lee ◽

Fen-Fang Tsai ◽

Seok Hui Tan

Keyword(s):

Cognitive Style ◽

Middle Childhood ◽

Internalizing Symptoms ◽

Cognitive Vulnerability ◽

Developmental Trajectories ◽

Community Sample ◽

Negative Evaluation ◽

Dysfunctional Attitudes ◽

Latent Growth ◽

Cognitive Vulnerabilities

The developmental trajectories and origins of six cognitive vulnerabilities implicated in depression and anxiety among children were examined. A community sample of 7-year-old children and their parents were recruited ( N = 302), and follow-up assessments were made at ages 8, 9, and 11. Although the six cognitive vulnerabilities (i.e., negative cognitive style, dysfunctional attitudes, ruminative style, anxiety sensitivity, intolerance of uncertainty, and fear of negative evaluation) were conceptualized as disorder-specific vulnerabilities, a common latent factor accounted for their shared features. This core vulnerability represented a negative repetitive cognitive style pervaded with a sense of uncontrollability and uncertainty. Latent growth analysis revealed that the averaged trajectory was stable over time. Child negative affectivity, socioeconomic status, and negative life events (assessed at age 7) prospectively predicted the core vulnerability intercept factor. These findings provide novel evidence for a transdiagnostic mechanism that bears directly on a developmentally informed model for child internalizing symptoms.

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