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Free keywords:
Anxiety, depression, dother-Child relationship, potency, valence, epidemiology, adolescents
Abstract:
This study aims to examine whether (a) low child valence (emotional
connectedness) within the mother-child relationship increases the risk
for offspring depression, (b) low child potency (individual autonomy)
increases the risk for offspring anxiety, and (c) maternal
psychopathology pronounces these associations. We used data from a
prospective-longitudinal study of adolescents (aged 14-17 at baseline)
and their mothers (N = 1,015 mother-child dyads). Anxiety disorders and
depression were assessed repeatedly over 10 years in adolescents (T0,
T1, T2, T3) and their mothers (T1, T3) using the DSM-IV/M-CIDI. Valence
and potency were assessed in mothers (T1) with the Subjective Family
Image Questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) from logistic regression were used
to estimate associations between low child valence/potency and offspring
psychopathology (cumulated lifetime incidences; adjusted for sex and
age). In separate models (low valence or low potency as predictor), low
child valence predicted offspring depression only (OR = 1.26 per SD),
while low child potency predicted offspring anxiety (OR = 1.24) and
depression (OR = 1.24). In multiple models (low valence and low potency
as predictors), low child valence predicted offspring depression only
(OR = 1.19), while low child potency predicted offspring anxiety only
(OR = 1.22). Low child potency interacted with maternal anxiety on
predicting offspring depression (OR = 1.49), i.e. low child potency
predicted offspring depression only in the presence of maternal anxiety
(OR = 1.33). These findings suggest that low child valence increases the
risk for offspring depression, while low child potency increases the
risk for offspring anxiety and depression and interacts with maternal
psychopathology on predicting offspring depression.
