The duration and timing of maternal depression as a moderator of the relationship between dependent interpersonal stress, contextual risk and early child dysregulation

Abstract

Background: Risk factors that are associated with depression in the mother also negatively affect the child. This research sought to extend current knowledge by examining the duration and timing of maternal depression as a moderator of: (1) the impact of dependent interpersonal stress (DIS), such as partner conflict or low social support, and contextual risk (e.g. poverty) on child dysregulation; and (2) continuity in early child dysregulation.

Method: Mother-child pairs (n = 12 152) who participated in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were examined between pregnancy and age 4 years. Data on maternal depression were collected five times between pregnancy and 33 months postpartum; on DIS and contextual risk three times between pregnancy and 33 months; and on child dysregulation at age 2 and 4 years.

Results: Longitudinal latent class analysis identified a class of mothers (10%) who evinced a chronic level of depression between pregnancy and 33 months. For chronic-depressed versus non-depressed mothers, the results indicate that: (1) DIS predicted higher child dysregulation if experienced between pregnancy and age 2; (2) contextual risk had a differential effect on child dysregulation if experienced during pregnancy; and (3) children had higher continuity in dysregulation between age 2 and age 4.

Conclusions: Assessing the impact of the timing and duration of maternal depression, and different types of co-occurring risk factors, on child well-being is important. Maternal depression and associated DIS, in comparison to contextual risk, may be more responsive to intervention.

Fig. 1

Longitudinal latent classes of maternal depression. One-class model: entropy=not applicable (n.a.), Bayesian Information Criterion (BIC)=320814.32, Lo–Mendell–Rubin likelihood ratio test (LMR-LRT)=n.a.; two-class model: entropy=0.84, BIC=303650.96, LMR-LRT=0.0000; three-class model: entropy=0.81, BIC=298662.28, LMR-LRT=0.0000; four-class model: entropy=0.78, BIC=297433.04, LMR-LRT=0.0000; five-class model: entropy=0.78, BIC=296784.33, LMR-LRT=0.4625.

Fig. 2

Multiple group path analysis. Path coefficients: depressed/non-depressed or averaged across all mothers; single arrow paths=predictions; double arrow paths=correlations; circles=latent variables (items not shown for the sake of a simple presentation); rectangular=manifest variable. All parameters shown are significant at p<0.05. The pathways from child emotional and behavioral dysregulation (Child Dysreg) to dependent interpersonal stress (DIS) and contextual risks (C. Risk) failed to reach significance; predictions between DIS and C. Risk are not shown for the simplicity of the presentation (and because these relationships are not central to the current research questions), but are available on request from the author.