A Longitudinal and Gender Invariance Analysis of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire Across Ages 3, 5, 7, 11, 14, and 17 in a Large U.K.-Representative Sample

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Background: While transactional models suggest that parent and child mental health reciprocally influence one another over development, research has largely focused on parent-to-child effects. Additionally, it is not known whether observed associations hold when appropriate statistical tools are used to operationalise within-family dynamics. Methods: We investigated within-family mental health dynamics using autoregressive latent trajectory models with structured residuals, stratified by child gender. Parental psychological distress was assessed using the Kessler (K6) scale, and children's internalising and externalising problems were assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Both measures were administered at the age 3, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 17 waves of the Millennium Cohort Study (N = 10,746, ~50% female). Results: Maternal psychological distress was positively associated with subsequent internalising and externalising problems for girls but only with internalising problems for boys. Paternal psychological distress was associated with boys' later internalising and externalising problems during early adolescence. Among boys, internalising problems were associated with later maternal psychological distress, while externalising problems were associated with later paternal psychological distress. Among girls, internalising problems were associated with subsequent paternal psychological distress, while externalising problems were associated with later maternal psychological distress. Finally, maternal and paternal psychological distress showed negative bidirectional associations in early childhood but positive associations in middle childhood and early adolescence. Conclusions: Findings support a transactional model of family mental health, with both child-to-parent and parent-to-child effects playing a role in the development of mental health difficulties. Mental health intervention efforts should, therefore, target the whole family system.

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Within‐family relations of mental health problems across childhood and adolescence

Speyer

Hall

Hang

et al. 2022

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“…To examine the change in emotional and behavioral difficulties over time, linear, rather than quadratic, latent growth models were used since quadratic terms were not statistically significant, with emotional and behavioral difficulties measured at ages 5, 7, 11, and 14 years used as indicators. Emotional and behavioral difficulties measured at 3 and 17 years were not included since only partial scalar invariance was supported (Tables S8 and S9; also see Murray, Speyer, Hall, Valdebenito, & Hughes, 2021). Factor loadings on the latent intercept (the average emotional and behavioral difficulties score at a chosen time point) were fixed to be 1 and the latent slopes (the change rate in emotional and behavioral difficulties from 5 to 14 years) were fixed by the age differences in years between assessments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sexual orientation disparities in the developmental trajectories of emotional and behavioral difficulties from childhood to early adolescence

Rahman

2022

Background: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and asexual adolescents are at increased risk of poor mental health outcomes but it remains unknown whether this disparity emerges from early childhood and through to adolescence. This study tested sexual orientation disparities in the developmental trajectories of emotional and behavioral difficulties from ages 5 to 14 years, and the influence of early life adversities upon them. Methods: The Millennium Cohort Study, a British birth cohort, was used (4,838 boys and 5,016 girls). Parent-report emotional and behavioral difficulties at ages 5, 7, 11, and 14 were measured using the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire. Sexual orientation was measured via sexual attraction at age 17. Early life adversities in the first 5 years of life, including parental age at birth, birthweight, duration of breastfeeding, parent-child relationship quality, and parental absence, were collected prospectively. Results: Latent growth modeling suggested that, for both sexes, sexual orientation disparities in emotional and behavioral difficulties increased from age 5 to 14 years. Homosexual and bisexual girls displayed significantly greater emotional and behavioral difficulties than heterosexual girls at ages 7, 11, and 14. Homosexual and bisexual boys displayed significantly greater emotional and behavioral difficulties than heterosexual boys at ages 11 and 14. Asexual boys and girls displayed significantly greater emotional and behavioral difficulties than their heterosexual counterparts at all four ages. For both sexes, sexual orientation disparities in emotional and behavioral difficulties only reduced slightly in magnitude after controlling for early life adversities. Conclusions: Sexual minority disparities in emotional and behavioral difficulties increased from childhood to early adolescence, possibly due to the accumulation of susceptibility to minority-related stressors. Sex and early life adversity may contribute to these developmental disparities.

“…The psychometric properties the SDQ have been extensively examined (see Kersten et al., 2016 for a review), including in the current sample (Murray et al., 2021a , 2021b ). These studies have mostly confirmed the reliability and validity of its scores (Goodman, 1997 , 2001 ; Goodman, Meltzer, & Bailey, 1998 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does emotion dysregulation mediate the association between ADHD symptoms and internalizing problems? A longitudinal within‐person analysis in a large population‐representative study

Antony

Pihlajamäki

Speyer

et al. 2022

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Background: Previous research has suggested that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms commonly show emotion dysregulation difficulties. These difficulties may partly explain the strong tendency for internalizing problems such as anxiety and depression to co-occur with ADHD symptoms. However, no study has yet provided a longitudinal analysis of the within-person links between ADHD symptoms, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing problems necessary to examine this hypothesis from a developmental perspective. Methods: We used data from the age 3, 5, and 7 waves of the large UK population-representative Millennium Cohort Study (n = 9,619, 4,885 males) and fit gender-stratified autoregressive latent trajectory models with structured residuals (ALT-SR) to disaggregate within-and between-person relations between ADHD symptom, emotion dysregulation, and internalizing problem symptoms. Results: We found that emotion dysregulation significantly mediated the longitudinal within-person association between ADHD symptoms and internalizing problems. Conclusions: Results underline the promise of targeting emotion dysregulation as a means of preventing internalizing problems co-occurring with ADHD symptoms.