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The unique effects of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms on youth's symptomatology: Moderation by family ethnicity, family structure, and child gender

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 December 2018

Fanita A. Tyrell Open the ORCID record for Fanita A. Tyrell [Opens in a new window] ,
Tuppett M. Yates ,
Chandra A. Reynolds ,
William V. Fabricius  and
Sanford L. Braver
Fanita A. Tyrell*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
Tuppett M. Yates
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
Chandra A. Reynolds
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA
William V. Fabricius
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
Sanford L. Braver
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
*
Author for correspondence: Fanita Tyrell, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 51 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455; E-mail: tyrel002@umn.edu
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Abstract

Drawing on five waves of longitudinal data from 392 families (52% female; mean age of wave 1 [Mage_W1] = 12.89, standard deviation [SD] = .48; Mage_W5 = 21.95, SD = .77; 199 European American and 193 Mexican American families; 217 intact and 175 stepfather families), this study documented transactional relations of mothers’ and fathers’ depressive symptoms with youth's symptomatology from early adolescence to young adulthood. Trait and time-varying cross-lagged models revealed that both mothers’ and fathers’ between- and within-person differences in depressive symptoms were associated with youth's internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Whereas each parent's depressive symptoms uniquely contributed to youth's internalizing symptoms, however, only mothers’ depressive symptoms influenced youth's externalizing symptoms. Although reciprocal effects of youth's internalizing symptoms on parents’ depressive symptoms were not significant, youth's externalizing symptoms predicted changes in mothers’ depressive symptoms over time. Moderation analyses revealed distinct transactional patterns by family ethnicity and child gender, but not by family structure. This study revealed dynamic transactions among family members’ symptomatology that point to opportune times and targets for intervention efforts aimed at mitigating the negative impact of parents’ depressive symptoms on youth's adjustment.

Keywords

adolescenceethnicityexternalizingfamily structuregenderinternalizingparental depressive symptomstime-varyingtrait-invariant
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 31 , Issue 4 , October 2019 , pp. 1213 - 1226
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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