Mothers’ depressive symptoms and children’s behavioral adjustment: The role of negative parental emotional states.

Abstract

The contribution of fathers and family dynamics to the deleterious effects of mothers' depressive symptoms on children's behavioral adjustment has been evaluated in this study. Using longitudinal data spanning from toddlerhood to grade school (N = 1,311), this study examined whether negative emotional states in both parents related to mothers' cumulative depressive symptoms during the early years of children were associated with children's later internalizing and externalizing problems in grade school. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to segregate between-and within-individual effects. The results demonstrated that, independent of fathers' depressive symptoms, high levels of maternal cumulative depressive symptoms were positively associated with negative emotional states in both parents over time, which then independently mediated the longitudinal associations between mothers' depressive symptoms and children's subsequent behavioral maladjustment, particularly internalizing problems, at the betweenindividual trait level. The findings highlight the interdependence of family members from a longitudinal perspective and support the unique contributions of both parents' negative emotional states to better understand children's behavioral adjustment in the context of maternal depressive symptoms.

Comparative study on emotional behavior and parental job stress of only-child and non-only-child preschool children

“…This is because when parents are under pressure, the negative emotions they exhibit, such as anxiety and depression, are transmitted to their children, thus affecting the children’s emotional state and behavioral performance[ 19 ]. When parental pressure is greater, the emotional management and upbringing performance changes, and this change directly affects the child, and subsequently their emotional behavior[ 20 ]. In contrast, when children are in a negative emotional state, they also make parents worry and experience anxiety, further increasing parental pressure.…”