Children's self-blame appraisals about their mothers' depressive symptoms and risk for internalizing symptoms

Abstract

Maternal depressive symptoms are a robust predictor of children's risk for internalizing symptoms, yet not all children are negatively affected by exposure to their mothers' symptoms. The present study tested children's self-blame appraisals as a moderator of the association between maternal depressive symptoms and children's internalizing symptoms, controlling for children's negative attributional style. We hypothesized that the relation between maternal depressive symptoms and children's internalizing symptoms would be stronger for children who blamed themselves more for their mothers' symptoms. Participants were 129 mother-child dyads (M child age = 13.63, SD = 2.2; 52.7% female; 38.8% White, 31% African American, 22.5% Latinx/Hispanic) recruited from the community. Results indicated that maternal depressive symptoms were associated with higher levels of children's internalizing symptoms for children who reported higher, but not lower, levels of self-blame appraisals. Results were consistent using mothers' or children's reports of their own and each other's symptoms. The findings highlight the importance of assessing children's appraisals about their mothers' depressive symptoms, and suggest that preventive interventions should target children who endorse higher levels of self-blame appraisals. Furthermore, children's self-blame appraisals about mothers' depressive symptoms should be considered as a target of treatment for child internalizing disorders. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Figure 1.

Children’s self-blame appraisals as a moderator of the association between mothers’ self-reported depressive symptoms and mother-reported (Panel A) and child-reported (Panel B) child internalizing symptoms. Note. N = 129 mother-child dyads. CES-D = Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Analyses controlled for child age, child sex, study sample, and children’s general negative attributional style.

Figure 2.

Children’s self-blame appraisals as a moderator of the association between children’s perceptions of their mothers’ depressive symptoms and mother-reported (Panel A) and child-reported (Panel B) child internalizing symptoms. Note. N = 129 mother-child dyads. Analyses controlled for child age, child sex, sample, and children’s general negative attributional style.