Does Parenting Explain the Link Between Cumulative SES Risk and Child Problems in the Context of Parental Depression?

The accumulation of socioeconomic stressors, such as being a single parent and having a limited income, is associated with childhood maladjustment and prospective poor health. Evidence suggests both positive and negative parenting strategies (e.g., warmth and praise; criticism and neglect) may account for the relationship between socioeconomic adversity and child outcomes. However, despite the common co-occurrence of parental depression and socioeconomic stress, models of cumulative socioeconomic risk and parenting have yet to be tested in parents who are also coping with depression. In a sample of children whose parents have a history of depression, this study extends findings from a previous report (i.e., Sullivan et al. in J Fam Psychol 33:883-893, 2019) to test whether behavioral observations of parenting account for the association between a cumulative risk index of socioeconomic stress and child psychological problems in the same sample of 179 children (Mage = 11.46 years, SDage = 2.00) of parents with depression. Both positive and negative parenting accounted for the relationship between socioeconomic risk and both child- and parent-reported externalizing problems, whereas no evidence emerged for parenting accounting for the relation between cumulative risk and internalizing problems. This study highlights the central role socioeconomic stress plays in child maladjustment among parents coping with depression, as well as how parenting may be a critical mechanism linking socioeconomic stress and child externalizing problems.