Depressive vulnerability in parents and their 5-year-old child's temperament: a family system perspective.

The actor-partner interdependence model was used to test whether one parent's depressive vulnerability (self-criticism and dependency) was associated with the same parent's own (an intraparental association) and the other parent's (a cross-parental association) ratings of their 5-year-old child's temperament (536 parents, 268 dyads). The more vulnerable the parents were, the more the children showed negative affectivity and lack of effortful control. Significant interactions with the parent's gender and between the spouses' depressive vulnerabilities were found, highlighting the fact that child outcomes are dependent on family processes. All associations were independent of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms. The influence of personality-based depressive traits on child temperamental outcomes and effective parenting is discussed with reference to between-dyad family dynamics. (c) 2006 APA, all rights reserved.