Trajectories of internalizing symptoms in early childhood: Associations with maternal internalizing symptoms and child physiology

Abstract

Research has shown that children's internalizing symptom development during early childhood are shaped by biopsychosocial processes including physiology and parental symptoms. However, associations between maternal internalizing symptoms, child physiology and trajectories of child internalizing symptoms are not well understood. We used growth curve models to examine how maternal internalizing symptoms, child physiology and the interaction between maternal internalizing symptoms and child physiology may be associated with trajectories of internalizing symptoms during early childhood. Mothers reported their children's internalizing symptoms when children were 3, 4, 5 and 6 years of age, and mothers self‐reported their own internalizing symptoms when children were 3. Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia (RSA) was collected when children were 3.5‐years‐old. Results showed that there is a non‐linear, quadratic trajectory across all participants from age 3 to 6. Maternal internalizing symptoms were not associated with children's internalizing symptoms at age 6, but were associated with both linear and quadratic change. Lower resting RSA was associated with greater increases in children's internalizing symptoms over time. Interactions between maternal internalizing symptoms and RSA were not associated with children's internalizing symptom development. The findings demonstrate that maternal internalizing symptoms and child physiology are independently associated with internalizing symptom development during early childhood.

Early life stress, prenatal secondhand smoke exposure, and the development of internalizing symptoms across childhood

“…Combined exposure to SHS and ELS was associated with a slower decrease in internalizing symptoms over time, consistent with our hypothesis that the interaction between SHS and ELS would disrupt normative patterns of reduced internalizing symptoms across childhood [ 45 , 90 ]. Our findings align with prior studies showing that maternal stress is associated with children’s increased internalizing symptoms over development [ 44 , 46 , 47 ]. If the combined targeting of dopamine circuits by SHS and ELS reorganizes neural development, these effects may become magnified over time.…”

“…In addition to static effects on behavior, exposures may influence trajectories of development. Prior findings indicate relative stability or decreases in internalizing symptoms amongst community samples of youth before age 12 and then sharp increases into adolescence, particularly among girls [ 44 – 47 ]. Notably, these trajectories are shaped by stress, with maternal stress and psychopathology strongly associated with elevations in internalizing symptoms [ 44 , 46 – 48 ].…”

Bidirectional effects of toddler temperament and maternal overprotection on maternal and child anxiety symptoms across preschool

“…At the same time, we know that maternal characteristics do account for child internalizing in a separate study using the same sample. Specifically, we found that maternal internalizing symptoms were associated with steeper increases in child internalizing symptoms followed by decreases (Zhou & Buss, 2021). The findings from the current study, along with our previous work (e.g., Buss & Kiel, 2013) suggest that the indirect pathway through early maternal overprotection is what may set the child up for the development of anxiety symptoms in children by accounting for higher anxiety in preschool.…”

“…For instance, Cote et al (2009) demonstrated that maternal lifetime depression was the most important predictor of trajectories of children's internalizing symptom development after accounting for child temperament. In our own work, maternal internalizing symptoms (both depression and anxiety) were associated with a steep increase in children's internalizing symptoms from age three to four, followed by a decrease from four to six (Zhou & Buss, 2021). Studies focused on anxiety specifically demonstrate robust effects from parental anxiety to child anxiety.…”

Risk for internalizing symptom development in young children: Roles of child parasympathetic reactivity and maternal depression and anxiety exposure in early life

“…For example, high PNS reactivity at age 1 month has been found to predict behavioral dysregulation at age 3 years only in children whose caregivers experienced high levels of caregiving stress (Conradt et al, 2016). Notably, a limited number of other studies have found the opposite effect, with lower reactivity conferring greater sensitivity to environmental exposures (e.g., Alkon et al, 2017;McLaughlin et al, 2014), and others have found small or no moderating effects (e.g., Young-Southward et al, 2020;Zhou & Buss, 2021). These divergent findings may be due to multiple factors, including differences in samples (e.g., clinical vs. community, low vs. high resourced); lack of consistency in the types of challenges utilized to elicit PNS reactivity; degree of PNS reactivity represented within samples, given that there are no clinical cutoffs for defining PNS reactivity and, consequently, what constitutes "heightened" PNS reactivity is sample specific; and differences in operationalization and severity of adversity exposures across studies.…”