Parent Behavior in Mothers with and without a History of Depression and Adjustment in their Adolescent Children

Abstract

Observed mothers with and without a history of depression interacting with their adolescent children in a positive and a stressful task to determine possible mechanisms for the transmission of the effects of maternal depression. Mothers with a history of depression, who were not currently depressed, were significantly more likely to exhibit negative affect and disengaged and hostile parenting behaviors than mothers with no history of depression across the two interactions. Mothers’ current depressive symptoms were also related to higher levels of negative affect and child and mother-reported intrusive and withdrawn parenting behaviors. Findings from this study indicate that mothers’ prior history of depression and their current depressive symptoms are sources of risk for internalizing problems in children, and that these effects are mediated by the presence of negative affect in mothers’ interactions with their children. Results have implications for interventions with mothers with a history of depression to prevent internalizing problems in their adolescent offspring.