Maternal Depressive Symptoms Predict General Liability in Child Psychopathology

Abstract

Objective: The current study examines how maternal depressive symptoms relate to child psychopathology when structured via the latent bifactor model of psychopathology, a new organizational structure of psychopathological symptoms consisting of a general common psychopathology factor (p-factor) and internalizing-and externalizing-specific risk.Method: Maternal report of depressive symptoms (Beck Depression Inventory -II) and child psychopathological symptoms (Child Behavior Checklist and Children's Behavior Questionnaire) were provided by 554 mother-child pairs. Children in the sample were 7.7 years old on average (SD = 1.35, range = 5-11 years), and were 49.8% female, 46% Latinx, and 67% White, 6% Black, 5% Asian/Pacific Islander, and 21% multiracial.Results: Maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with the child p-factor but not with the internalizing-or externalizing-specific factors. We did not find evidence of sex/gender or race/ethnicity moderation when using latent factors of psychopathology. Consistent with past research, maternal depressive symptoms were positively associated with internalizing and externalizing composite scores on the Child Behavior Checklist.Conclusions: Findings suggest that maternal depressive symptoms are associated with transdiagnostic risk for broad child psychopathology (p-factor). Whereas the traditional Achenbach-style approach of psychopathological assessment suggests that maternal depressive symptoms are associated with both child internalizing and externalizing problems, the latent bifactor model suggests that these associations may be accounted for by risk pathways related to the p-factor rather than internalizing or externalizing specific risk. We discuss clinical and research implications of using a latent bifactor structure of psychopathology to understand how maternal depression may impact children's mental health.

Early‐onset and recurrent depression in parents increases risk of intergenerational transmission to adolescent offspring

“…Consistent with a literature showing that the intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology tends to be nonspecific (Connell & Goodman, 2002; Swales et al, 2020; Thapa, Selya, & Jonk, 2017), recurrent parental depression and early emerging parental depression were associated with adolescent offspring conduct problems and symptoms of ADHD in unadjusted models. Some of these effects were reduced to nonsignificance in models that adjusted for risk factors that were more characteristic of parents with (vs. without) a lifetime history of MDD, such as an earlier transition to parenthood or a lifetime history of other mental disorders.…”

On the Meaning of the General Factor of Psychopathology (“P-Factor”) in Symmetrical Bifactor Models

“…Many studies use bifactor models to characterize features that different domains of psychopathology (e.g., internalizing, externalizing, thought disorders) have in common (e.g., Carragher et al, 2016;Caspi et al, 2014;Gomez et al, 2019;Haltigan et al, 2018;Laceulle et al, 2015;Lahey et al, 2012Lahey et al, , 2018Markon, 2019;Martel et al, 2017;Swales et al, 2020;Tackett et al, 2013). In bifactor models, psychopathology is structured in terms of (1) a general factor on which all indicators of all domains load and (2) domain-specific factors that depict variance not shared with the general factor.…”

Preconception maternal posttraumatic stress and child negative affectivity: Prospectively evaluating the intergenerational impact of trauma

“…Maternal mental health history is strongly implicated in the developmental trajectory of child emotional development and psychopathology risk (Goodman & Gotlib, 1999;Bijl et al, 2002;Swales et al, 2020). This intergenerational link between maternal and child psychological wellbeing is especially evident among mothers who have experienced trauma and subsequent symptoms of posttraumatic stress (Lambert et al, 2014).…”