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Offspring Personality Mediates the Association between Maternal Depression and Childhood Psychopathology.

ABSTRACT: Offspring of mothers diagnosed with major depression are at increased risk for a wide range of psychological problems. Previous research has shown that individual differences in personality development can be informative for predicting risk and resilience to psychopathology, especially within at-risk populations. In the present study, we examined whether individual differences in offspring personality development during early to middle childhood could account for the association between maternal depression and offspring behavior problems later in childhood. Participants included 64 offspring of mothers diagnosed with major depression and 68 offspring of healthy comparison mothers. Personality was assessed via parent report at ages 3, 4, 5, and 9. Offspring internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed at age 9 via parent and teacher report. Results of latent growth curve models indicated that offspring Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, and Agreeableness mediated the link between early maternal depression and later childhood behavior problems, though results varied across maternal and teacher reports. Findings suggest that individual differences in youth personality and personality development are important predictors of emerging psychopathology among offspring of mothers diagnosed with depression.

SUBMITTER: Allen TA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6311444 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Offspring Personality Mediates the Association between Maternal Depression and Childhood Psychopathology.

Allen Timothy A TA Oshri Assaf A Rogosch Fred A FA Toth Sheree L SL Cicchetti Dante D

Journal of abnormal child psychology 20190201 2

Offspring of mothers diagnosed with major depression are at increased risk for a wide range of psychological problems. Previous research has shown that individual differences in personality development can be informative for predicting risk and resilience to psychopathology, especially within at-risk populations. In the present study, we examined whether individual differences in offspring personality development during early to middle childhood could account for the association between maternal ...[more]

PMID: 29959661

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Project description:Disruption in the parent-child relationship is a commonly hypothesized risk factor through which maternal depression may increase risk for offspring psychopathology. However, maternal depression is commonly accompanied by other psychopathology, including antisocial behaviour. Few studies have examined the role of co-occurring psychopathology in depressed mothers. Using a longitudinal study of offspring of mothers with recurrent depression, we aimed to test whether maternal warmth/hostility mediated links between maternal depression severity and child outcomes, and how far direct and indirect pathways were robust to controls for co-occurring maternal antisocial behaviour.Mothers with a history of recurrent major depressive disorder and their adolescent offspring (9-17 years at baseline) were assessed three times between 2007 and 2010. Mothers completed questionnaires assessing their own depression severity and antisocial behaviour at Time 1 (T1). The parent-child relationship was assessed using parent-rated questionnaire and interviewer-rated 5-min speech sample at Time 2 (T2). Offspring symptoms of depression and disruptive behaviours were assessed using the Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Assessment at Time 3 (T3).Maternal hostility and warmth, respectively, mediated the association between maternal depression severity and risk for offspring psychopathology. However, the effects were attenuated when maternal antisocial behaviour was included in the analysis. In tests of the full theoretical model, maternal antisocial behaviour predicted both maternal hostility and low warmth, maternal hostility predicted offspring disruptive behaviour disorder symptoms, but not depression, and maternal warmth was not associated with either child outcome.Parenting interventions aimed at reducing hostility may be beneficial for preventing or reducing adolescent disruptive behaviours in offspring of depressed mothers, especially when depressed mothers report co-occurring antisocial behaviour.

Project description:BackgroundSocioeconomic disadvantage (SED) has been consistently associated with early life mental health problems. SED has been shown to impact multiple biological systems, including the regulation of neurotrophic proteins, immune-inflammatory and oxidative stress markers, which, conversely, have been reported to be relevant to physiological and pathological neurodevelopment This study investigated the relationship between SED, different domains of psychopathology, serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL6), thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance (TBARS) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). We hypothesized that a composite of socioeconomic risk would be associated with psychopathology and altered levels of peripheral biomarkers. In addition, we hypothesized that SED would moderate the associations between mental health problems, IL6, TBARS and BDNF.Methods and findingsUsing a cross-sectional design, we measured the serum levels of IL6, TBARS and BDNF in 495 children aged 6 to 12. We also investigated socio-demographic characteristics and mental health problems using the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) DSM-oriented scales. SED was evaluated using a cumulative risk model. Generalized linear models were used to assess associations between SED, biomarkers levels and psychopathology. SED was significantly associated with serum levels of IL6 (RR = 1.026, 95% CI 1.004; 1.049, p = 0.020) and TBARS (RR = 1.077, 95% CI 1.028; 1.127, p = 0.002). The association between SED and BDNF was not statistically significant (RR = 1.031, 95% CI 0.997; 1.066, p = 0.077). SED was also significantly associated with all CBCL DSM-oriented scales (all p < 0.05), whereas serum biomarkers (i.e. IL6, TBARS, BDNF) were associated with specific subscales. Moreover, the associations between serum biomarkers and domains of psychopathology were moderated by SED, with stronger correlations between mental health problems, IL6, TBARS, and BDNF being observed in children with high SED.ConclusionsIn children, SED is highly associated with mental health problems. Our findings suggest that this association may be moderated via effects on multiple interacting neurobiological systems.

Project description:Several recent population-based studies have linked exposure to maternal smoking during pregnancy to increased risk of severe mental illness in offspring (eg, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia). It is not yet clear, however, whether this association results from causal teratogenic effects or from confounding influences shared by smoking and severe mental illness.To examine the association between smoking during pregnancy and severe mental illness in offspring, adjusting for measured covariates and unmeasured confounding using family-based designs.This study analyzed population register data through December 31, 2013, for a cohort of 1 680 219 individuals born in Sweden from January 1, 1983, to December 31, 2001. Associations between smoking during pregnancy and severe mental illness in offspring were estimated with adjustment for measured covariates. Cousins and siblings who were discordant on smoking during pregnancy and severe mental illness were then compared, which helped to account for unmeasured genetic and environmental confounding by design.Maternal self-reported smoking during pregnancy, obtained from antenatal visits.Severe mental illness, with clinical diagnosis obtained from inpatient and outpatient visits and defined using International Classification of Diseases codes for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia spectrum disorders.Of the 1 680 219 offspring included in the analysis, 816 775 (48.61%) were female. At the population level, offspring exposed to moderate and high levels of smoking during pregnancy had greater severe mental illness rates than did unexposed offspring (moderate smoking during pregnancy: hazard ratio [HR], 1.25; 95% CI, 1.19-1.30; high smoking during pregnancy: HR, 1.51; 95% CI, 1.44-1.59). These associations decreased in strength with increasing statistical and methodologic controls for familial confounding. In sibling comparisons with within-family covariates, associations were substantially weaker and nonsignificant (moderate smoking during pregnancy: HR, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.94-1.26; high smoking during pregnancy: HR, 1.14; 95% CI, 0.96-1.35). The pattern of associations was consistent across subsets of severe mental illness disorders and was supported by further sensitivity analyses.This population- and family-based study failed to find support for a causal effect of smoking during pregnancy on risk of severe mental illness in offspring. Rather, these results suggest that much of the observed population-level association can be explained by measured and unmeasured factors shared by siblings.

Project description:Depression is common, especially in women of child-bearing age; prevalence estimates for this group range from 8% to 12%, and there is robust evidence that maternal depression is associated with mental health problems in offspring. Suicidal behaviour is a growing concern amongst young people and those exposed to maternal depression are likely to be especially at high risk. The aim of this study was to utilise a large, prospective population cohort to examine the relationship between depression symptom trajectories in mothers over the first eleven years of their child's life and subsequent adolescent suicidal ideation. An additional aim was to test if associations were explained by maternal suicide attempt and offspring depressive disorder. Data were utilised from a population-based birth cohort: the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. Maternal depression symptoms were assessed repeatedly from pregnancy to child age 11 years. Offspring suicidal ideation was assessed at age 16 years. Using multiple imputation, data for 10,559 families were analysed. Using latent class growth analysis, five distinct classes of maternal depression symptoms were identified (minimal, mild, increasing, sub-threshold, chronic-severe). The prevalence of past-year suicidal ideation at age 16 years was 15% (95% CI: 14-17%). Compared to offspring of mothers with minimal symptoms, the greatest risk of suicidal ideation was found for offspring of mothers with chronic-severe symptoms [OR 3.04 (95% CI 2.19, 4.21)], with evidence for smaller increases in risk of suicidal ideation in offspring of mothers with sub-threshold, increasing and mild symptoms. These associations were not fully accounted for by maternal suicide attempt or offspring depression diagnosis. Twenty-six percent of non-depressed offspring of mothers with chronic-severe depression symptoms reported suicidal ideation. Risk for suicidal ideation should be considered in young people whose mothers have a history of sustained high levels of depression symptoms, even when the offspring themselves do not have a depression diagnosis.

Project description:ObjectiveAdverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are linked to worsening overall health outcomes and psychological diagnoses. Routine screening, particularly in patients with postpartum depression (PPD), would identify patients who could benefit from interventions to prevent the perpetuation of ACEs and establish a system of preventative care to mitigate the risks of adverse health outcomes associated with high ACE scores. The purpose of this study is to explore the link between ACEs and PPD to advocate for the use of the ACE questionnaire as a routine screening tool in all pregnant patients diagnosed with PPD. We hypothesize that a cohort of patients with PPD will be more likely to have high-risk ACE scores than the general female population.Study designOur IRB approved, retrospective cohort study identified all patients diagnosed with PPD at an academic medical center between January 2015 and December 2019. The subjects were identified using retrospective chart review. Subjects were recruited via telephone and asked to complete an ACE questionnaire. Questionnaires were sent via RedCap. ACE scores were calculated, categorized as 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 or more ACEs, and compared to the prevalence in the original Kaiser-CDC ACE study female cohort using a chi-square goodness-of-fit test.ResultsThere were 132/251 surveys completed (53% response rate). In our PPD population, 19.3% had 0 ACEs, 17.0% had 1 ACE, 13.1% had 2 ACEs, 16.5% had 3 ACEs, and 34.1% had 4 or more ACEs. These percentages were significantly different from the Kaiser-CDC ACE Study percentages of 34.5, 24.5, 15.5, 10.3, and 15.2%, respectively (p < 0.001).ConclusionOur unique study showed that women with PPD are more likely to have high-risk ACE scores than the general female population. This finding has important implications in regards to counseling, intervening to prevent perpetual ACEs, and establishing important provider-patient relationships for life-long preventative care.Non-gendered language is used when possible throughout. However, the wording from studies cited in this paper was preserved.

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Offspring Personality Mediates the Association between Maternal Depression and Childhood Psychopathology.

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Offspring Personality Mediates the Association between Maternal Depression and Childhood Psychopathology.

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