Reducing youth internalizing symptoms: effects of a family-based preventive intervention on parental guilt induction and youth cognitive style

Abstract

This study utilized structural equation modeling to examine the associations among parental guilt induction (a form of psychological control), youth cognitive style, and youth internalizing symptoms, with parents and youth participating in a randomized controlled trial of a family-based group cognitive-behavioral preventive intervention targeting families with a history of caregiver depression. The authors present separate models utilizing parent report and youth report of internalizing symptoms. Findings suggest that families in the active condition (family-based group cognitive-behavioral group) relative to the comparison condition showed a significant decline in parent use of guilt induction at the conclusion of the intervention (6 months postbaseline). Furthermore, reductions in parental guilt induction at 6 months were associated with significantly lower levels of youth negative cognitive style at 12 months. Finally, reductions in parental use of guilt induction were associated with lower youth internalizing symptoms 1 year following the conclusion of the intervention (18 months postbaseline).

Figure 1

(Color online) The general schematic of the model that was tested.

Figure 2

Participant screening and randomization: ^a15 families deferred due to youth major depressive episode (MDE), ^b5 families deferred due to youth MDE, ^c8 youth not interested; 56 parent not interested, 3 families moved, 1 parent not legal guardian, 19 not reachable, 1 contacted study after enrollment closed.

Figure 3

The youth-report model. The loadings for the latent constructs are all significant at p < .001. Correlated errors between pairs of indicators across time points (e.g., Youth Self-Report [YSR] anxious/depressed at baseline and 18 months) were estimated for the two latent constructs but are not depicted. Treatment condition: FGCB, family group cognitive–behavioral; WI, written information group; Attr, attributional style subscale; Cons, negative inference for consequence subscale; Self, negative inference for self-concept subscale; Anx, YSR anxious/depressed subscale; With, YSR withdrawn/depressed subscale; Som, YSR somatic symptoms subscale. *p < .05, **p < .01, ***p < .001.

Figure 4

The parent-report model. The loadings for the latent constructs are all significant at p < .001. Correlated errors between pairs of indicators across time points (e.g., Child Behavior Checklist [CBCL] anxious/depressed at baseline and 18 months) were estimated for the two latent constructs but are not depicted. Treatment condition: FGCB, family group cognitive–behavioral; WI, written information group; Attr, attributional style subscale; Cons, negative inference for consequence subscale; Self, negative inference for self-concept subscale; Anx, CBCL anxious/depressed subscale; With, CBCL withdrawn/depressed subscale; Som, CBCL somatic symptoms subscale. †p = .06, *p < .05, **p< .01, ***p < .001.