Julia W Felton1, Karen T G Schwartz2, Lauren E Oddo2, Carl W Lejuez3, Andrea Chronis-Tuscano2. 1. Center for Health Policy and Health Services Research, Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Michigan, USA. 2. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA. 3. Office of the Provost and Department of Psychological Services, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Depression is a highly prevalent, debilitating disorder that runs in families. Yet, empirical support for bidirectional mechanisms linking mother-adolescent depression symptoms remains limited. This study examined longitudinal bidirectional relations among emotion regulation (ER) constructs and depressive symptoms among mother-adolescent dyads over time. Pathways for girls and boys were explored separately, given extant research on sex differences in the intergenerational transmission of depression. METHODS: Adolescent (n = 232; M = 15.02 years, SD = 0.95; 44% female)-mother dyads, drawn from a longitudinal study on the development of risky behaviors, completed annual assessments of depressive symptoms and facets of ER over 4 years. Panel modeling examined lagged and cross-lagged effects of mother-adolescent depressive symptoms and ER constructs over time, in a multigroup model of boys and girls. RESULTS: Among girls, higher baseline maternal depression scores predicted increased adolescent ER difficulties (std. est. = -.42, p < .001) in turn, predicting increased adolescent depressive symptoms (std. est. = -.33, p = .002) and subsequent maternal ER difficulties (std. est. = .39, p = .002). The indirect effect of maternal depressive symptoms→adolescent ER→adolescent depressive symptoms→maternal ER was significant (ind. eff. = .10, 95% confidence interval [>.001, .19]) for girls, but not boys. CONCLUSION: Implications for interrupting intergenerational cycles of depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation are discussed.
BACKGROUND: Depression is a highly prevalent, debilitating disorder that runs in families. Yet, empirical support for bidirectional mechanisms linking mother-adolescent depression symptoms remains limited. This study examined longitudinal bidirectional relations among emotion regulation (ER) constructs and depressive symptoms among mother-adolescent dyads over time. Pathways for girls and boys were explored separately, given extant research on sex differences in the intergenerational transmission of depression. METHODS: Adolescent (n = 232; M = 15.02 years, SD = 0.95; 44% female)-mother dyads, drawn from a longitudinal study on the development of risky behaviors, completed annual assessments of depressive symptoms and facets of ER over 4 years. Panel modeling examined lagged and cross-lagged effects of mother-adolescent depressive symptoms and ER constructs over time, in a multigroup model of boys and girls. RESULTS: Among girls, higher baseline maternal depression scores predicted increased adolescent ER difficulties (std. est. = -.42, p < .001) in turn, predicting increased adolescent depressive symptoms (std. est. = -.33, p = .002) and subsequent maternal ER difficulties (std. est. = .39, p = .002). The indirect effect of maternal depressive symptoms→adolescent ER→adolescent depressive symptoms→maternal ER was significant (ind. eff. = .10, 95% confidence interval [>.001, .19]) for girls, but not boys. CONCLUSION: Implications for interrupting intergenerational cycles of depressive symptoms and emotion dysregulation are discussed.
Authors: Jennifer S Silk; Daniel S Shaw; Emily M Skuban; Alyssa A Oland; Maria Kovacs Journal: J Child Psychol Psychiatry Date: 2006-01 Impact factor: 8.982
Authors: Stacey B Daughters; Elizabeth K Reynolds; Laura MacPherson; Christopher W Kahler; Carla K Danielson; Michael Zvolensky; C W Lejuez Journal: Behav Res Ther Date: 2008-12-13
Authors: Julia W Felton; Julia M Shadur; Mazneen Havewala; Jude Cassidy; Carl W Lejuez; Andrea Chronis-Tuscano Journal: J Psychopathol Behav Assess Date: 2022-02-28