Pathways from maternal depressive symptoms to adolescent depressive symptoms: the unique contribution of irritability symptoms

Abstract

BackgroundThe authors tested three possible pathways linking prenatal maternal depressive symptoms to adolescent depressive symptoms. These pathways went through childhood Irritability Symptoms, Anxiety/Depressive Symptoms or Conduct Problems.MethodData were collected from 3,963 mother–child pairs participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Measures include maternal depressive symptoms (pre‐ and postnatal); toddler temperament (2 years); childhood (7–13 years) irritability symptoms, anxiety/depressive symptoms, conduct problems, and adolescent depressive symptoms (16 years).Results Irritability Symptoms: This pathway linked sequentially – prenatal maternal depressive symptoms, toddler temperament (high perceived intensity and low perceived adaptability), childhood irritability symptoms, and adolescent depressive symptoms. Anxiety/Depressive symptoms: This pathway linked sequentially – prenatal maternal depressive symptoms, toddler temperament (negative perceived mood), childhood anxiety/depressive symptoms, and adolescent depressive symptoms. Childhood conduct problems were not associated with adolescent depressive symptoms, above and beyond irritability symptoms and anxiety/depressive symptoms.ConclusionsResults suggest evidence for two distinct developmental pathways to adolescent depressive symptoms that involve specific early and midchildhood features.

Depression and Anxiety in Preschoolers

“…Consistent with homotypic continuity, preschool depression predicts MDD later in childhood and adolescence 41–43 . However, evidence also suggests that preschool depression predicts anxiety disorders and ADHD in later childhood as well 41,44 .…”

“…Other work has focused on the heritability/genetics 57–60 associated with early-onset depression and more specifically, a large body of literature has linked parental history of depression and related psychopathology to preschool-onset depression in their children 29,42,43,61,62 . For example, a recent epidemiological study found two distinct pathways linking pre- and post-natal maternal depression to adolescent depressive symptoms, one pathway through preschool irritability symptoms and another through preschool anxiety/depressive symptoms 43 .…”

Early life social stress induced changes in depression and anxiety associated neural pathways which are correlated with impaired maternal care

“…Correlations with only the control or ECSS groups indicate that the changes in those genes mediate behavioral variation within the control or ECSS group, but that the changes are not directly associated with the between group differences or variation in the other group. The gene and protein expression and robust behavioral correlations support increased focus on vasopressin, ghrelin, orexin and changes in both glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid receptors in both animal and clinical studies of the adverse effects of early life stress, especially those focusing on depression and anxiety in mothers and transgenerational effects on offspring (Apter-Levy et al, 2013; Feldman et al, 2009; Whelan et al, 2015). …”

Neurophysiological Processing of Emotion in Children of Mothers with a History of Depression: the Moderating Role of Preschool Persistent Irritability

“…One possibility is that mothers with a history of depression may be more likely to engage in parenting practices that may maintain or exacerbate the emotional reactivity characteristic of early irritability throughout development. That is, highly irritable children of depressed mothers may fail to receive parenting that bolsters the development of the self-regulatory skills that can buffer against a propensity for heightened emotional reactivity (Whelan et al, 2015). Alternatively, given evidence that symptoms of irritability show moderate stability (Leibenluft et al, 2006), it is also plausible that irritability’s association with the ΔLPP may be the result of its current rather than early manifestations.…”

“…In addition, irritability can be an early precursor to adolescent and adult depressive disorders (Vidal-Ribas, Brotman, Valdivieso, Leinbenluft & Stringaris, 2016), although many depressed adolescents and adults do not have a history of childhood irritability (Stringaris et al, 2010; Stringaris & Taylor, 2015). Moreover, Whelan and colleagues (2015) recently found that childhood irritability uniquely mediated the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and the later development of adolescent depression over and above childhood anxiety and depressive symptoms. Taken together, these data raise the possibility that irritability may mark a distinct pathway in the development and intergenerational transmission of depression.…”