This study examined the longitudinal relationship between paternal depressive symptoms, paternal hostility, and adolescent functioning in a community sample of 451 families. Paternal depressive symptoms were a strong predictor of adolescent outcome, even after controlling for family demographic variables, maternal depressive symptoms, and previous adolescent symptoms. Adolescent gender and perception of paternal hostility moderated this association such that females reporting high paternal hostility were particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of paternal depressive symptoms. Maternal and paternal depressive symptoms had an additive, rather than interactive, effect on adolescent functioning. These results contribute to our knowledge of the interpersonal processes by which depression runs in families and highlight the importance of including fathers in developmental research on adolescent internalizing problems. Keywordsfathers; adolescent adjustment; depressive symptoms; gender; paternal hostility A considerable amount of research has documented the adverse effects of parental depression (for review, see Goodman & Gotlib, 2002) and critical family interactions (e.g., Sheeber, Hops, & Davis, 2001) on the social and psychological development of adolescents. These literatures have been limited by several factors. First, fathers have been dramatically underrepresented in developmental research (for review, see Phares, 1992). Second, most studies of paternal depression and offspring development have failed to control for the effects of maternal depression (see Kane & Garber, 2004). Third, little is known about gender differences in adolescent vulnerability to depressive family environments (Hammen, 1991). Finally, research on intergenerational psychopathology has predominately used clinical samples and cross-sectional design. Controlling for maternal depressive symptoms and previous adolescent symptoms, the present study used longitudinal data from a large community sample to examine adolescent gender and perceptions of father hostility as moderators of the association between paternal and adolescent functioning. Adolescent DepressionDepression is a prevalent and serious problem during adolescence. By age nineteen, 35% of adolescent females and 19% of adolescent males will experience at least one episode of clinical depression (Lewinsohn, Rohde, & Seeley, 1998), which has been associated with serious risks including substance abuse, suicide, and impaired academic achievement (Field, Diego, & Sanders, 2001 (Rao, Hammen, & Daley, 1999), data on the psychosocial characteristics of depression during the teenage years are limited (see Essau & Petermann, 1999). For example, the majority of research on adolescent depression has relied on clinical samples which are not representative of the general population of adolescents (Costello, 1993). Although diagnostic criteria and categorical approaches can be informative about depression, power to detect effects may be compromised with dichotomous data. Research has...
While an accumulating body of research has documented increased risk for psychopathology among children of depressed fathers, most studies have used cross-sectional design and little is known about offspring outcomes beyond childhood. Using prospective data from a community sample (N = 395), we found that paternal depressive symptoms when children were in early adolescence (age 13) predicted offspring depressive and anxiety symptoms at age 21, controlling for baseline youth symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, and other known correlates of internalizing problems in early adulthood. Associations were not moderated by maternal depressive symptoms or child gender. These results suggest that the unique and long-term effects of paternal depression on children's risk for mood disorders may persist into adulthood.
Prospective, longitudinal data from a community sample of 451 families were used to assess the unique contribution of paternal depressive symptoms to adolescent functioning. Results indicated that paternal depressive symptoms were significantly related to subsequent depressive symptoms in adolescent offspring; this association remained significant after controlling for previous adolescent depressive symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, gender, and family demographic variables. Adolescent gender and perception of father-adolescent relationship closeness moderated this association such that paternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with adolescent depressive symptoms for girls whose relations with fathers lacked closeness. These findings add to a growing literature on the interpersonal mechanisms through which depression runs in families, highlighting the need for future investigation of paternal mental health, adolescent gender, and intrafamily relationship quality in relation to adolescent development. Keywordsdepressive symptoms; father-adolescent relations; adolescence; fathers; gender Throughout their lives, children of depressed parents are at risk for a number of social and emotional adjustment difficulties (for review, see Goodman & Gotlib, 2002). Fathers have been dramatically underrepresented in this research (Phares, 1992), although recent findings indicate that paternal depression may be related to adolescent maladjustment (e.g., Connell & Goodman, 2002). Of the limited literature on paternal depression and adolescent development, few have controlled for the influence of maternal depression (see Kane & Garber, 2004), and most have been limited to cross-sectional design (Hammen, 2008). Using longitudinal data from a community sample, this project examines the unique contribution of paternal depressive symptoms to adolescent functioning and whether this process is moderated by adolescent gender and/or adolescent perception of father-adolescent relationship closeness.Subdiagnostic depression during adolescence has a high recurrence rate and been linked to a wide range of psychopathology including major depression, anxiety disorders, and suicide (Fergusson, Horwood, Ridder, & Beautrais, 2005 Research on child and adolescent adjustment has historically focused on attributes of the mother, limiting the understanding of fathers' role in offspring psychopathology (Phares, 1992). However, a growing body of work has associated paternal depression with adolescent psychological problems, and findings indicate that the degree of offspring risk is comparable to that associated with maternal depression (for recent meta-analyses, see Connell & Goodman, 2002;Kane & Garber, 2004). Some data suggest that paternal mental health may moderate the well-documented association between maternal depression and child psychopathology (see Goodman & Gotlib, 2002). Other results indicate the need for future research to examine the effect of paternal depression on adolescent development after controlling for ...
Economic hardship and its consequences were examined across 3 generations of rural Midwestern families. Information from parents (G1) and adolescents (G2) from 556 families indicated that economic hardship experienced during adolescence predicted economic hardship in young adulthood, and this process was linked to developmental outcomes of the 3rd generation (G3). Five individual and family factors decreased the association between parents’ and offspring economic hardship over a 10-year period. G1 economic hardship decreased G2's association with conventional peers, participation in extracurricular activities, later educational attainment, and parents’ assistance with college. G1 hardship also was associated with adolescent personality traits such as higher negative emotionality and lower conscientiousness. Taken together, the results indicate that economic hardship in the 1st generation diminishes the personal and social resources of youth, thus increasing risk for hardship in the next generation. This process appears to be repeating for the children of the G2 young adults.
Research increasingly finds that race/ethnicity needs to be taken into account in the modelling of associations between protective factors and adolescent drinking behaviors in order to understand family effects and promote positive youth development. The current study examined racial/ethnic variation in the prospective effects of family cohesion on adolescent alcohol-related problems using a nationally representative sample. Data were drawn from the first two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health and included 10,992 (50% female) non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, Latino, and non-Hispanic White 7th-12th graders. Consistent with Hirschi's social control theory of youth delinquency, higher levels of family cohesion predicted lower levels of future adolescent alcohol-related problems, independent of race/ethnicity, sex, age, baseline alcohol-related problems, and family socioeconomic status. Findings from moderation analyses indicated that the magnitude of associations differed across groups such that the protective effect of family cohesion was strongest among White adolescents. For Latino adolescents, family cohesion was not associated with alcohol-related problems. Future longitudinal cross-racial/ethnic research is needed on common and unique mechanisms underlying differential associations between family processes and adolescent high-risk drinking. Understanding these processes could help improve preventive interventions, identify vulnerable subgroups, and inform health policy aimed at reducing alcohol-related health disparities.
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