Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T07:56:58.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Inhibitory control as a mediator of bidirectional effects between early oppositional behavior and maternal depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 June 2014

Daniel Ewon Choe*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Daniel S. Shaw
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Lauretta M. Brennan
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Thomas J. Dishion
Affiliation:
Arizona State University
Melvin N. Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Virginia
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Daniel Ewon Choe, Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, 210 South Bouquet Street, 4423 Sennott Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15260; E-mail: dec60@pitt.edu.

Abstract

Maternal depression is an established risk factor for child conduct problems, but relatively few studies have tested whether children's behavioral problems exacerbate mothers' depression or whether other child behavioral characteristics (e.g., self-regulation) may mediate bidirectional effects between maternal depression and child disruptive behavior. This longitudinal study examined the parallel growth of maternal depressive symptoms and child oppositional behavior from ages 2 to 5; the magnitude and timing of their bidirectional effects; and whether child inhibitory control, a temperament-based self-regulatory mechanism, mediated effects between maternal depression and child oppositionality. A randomized control trial of 731 at-risk families assessed children annually from ages 2 to 5. Transactional models demonstrated positive and bidirectional associations between mothers' depressive symptoms and children's oppositional behavior from ages 2 to 3, with a less consistent pattern of reciprocal relations up to age 5. Mediation of indirect mother–child effects and child evocative effects depended on the rater of children's inhibitory control. Findings are discussed in regard to how child evocative effects and self-regulatory mechanisms may clarify the transmission of psychopathology within families.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2000). Manual for the ASEBA Preschool Forms and Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.Google Scholar
Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2001). Manual for ASEBA School-Age Forms & Profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.Google Scholar
Ahadi, S. A., Rothbart, M. K., & Ye, R. (1993). Children's temperament in the U.S. and China: Similarities and differences. European Journal of Personality, 7, 359377.Google Scholar
Bagner, D., Pettit, J. W., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (2010). Effect of maternal depression on child behavior: A sensitive period? Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 49, 699707.Google Scholar
Bell, R. Q. (1968). A reinterpretation of the direction of effects in studies of socialization. Psychological Review, 75, 8195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Belsky, J. (1984). The determinants of parenting: A process model. Child Development, 55, 8396.Google Scholar
Bentler, P. M. (2007). On tests and indices for evaluating structural models. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 825829.Google Scholar
Bollen, K. A., & Curran, P. J. (2004). Autoregressive latent trajectory (ALT) models: A synthesis of two traditions. Sociological Methods & Research, 32, 336383.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongers, I. L., Koot, H. M., van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2004). Developmental trajectories of externalizing behaviors in childhood and adolescence. Child Development, 75, 15231537.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Burkholder, G. J., & Harlow, L. L. (2003). An illustration of a longitudinal cross-lagged design for larger structural equation models. Structural Equation Modeling, 10, 465486.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burt, K. B., Van Dulmen, M. H. M., Carlivati, J., Egeland, B., Sroufe, L. A., Forman, D. R., et al. (2005). Mediating links between maternal depression and offspring psychopathology: The importance of independent data. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 490499.Google Scholar
Campbell, S. B., Matestic, P., von Stauffenberg, C. V., Mohan, R., & Kirchner, T. (2007). Trajectories of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and children's functioning at school entry. Developmental Psychology, 43, 12021215.Google Scholar
Chang, H., Shaw, D. S., Dishion, T. J., Gardner, F., & Wilson, M. N. (in press). Proactive parenting and children's effortful control: Mediating role of language and indirect intervention effects. Social Development.Google Scholar
Choe, D. E., Olson, S. L., & Sameroff, A. J. (2013). Effects of early maternal distress and parenting on the development of children's self-regulation and externalizing behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 437453.Google Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Tucker, D. (1994). Development and self-regulatory structures of the mind. Development and Psychopathology, 6, 533549.Google Scholar
Connell, A. M., & Goodman, S. H. (2002). The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children's internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128, 746773.Google Scholar
Côté, S. M., Vaillancourt, T., Leblanc, J. C., Nagin, D. S., & Tremblay, R. E. (2006). The development of physical aggression from toddlerhood to pre-adolescence: A nation wide longitudinal study of Canadian children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 7185.Google Scholar
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994). Maternal depression and child development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 35, 73112.Google Scholar
Cummings, E. M., Keller, P. S., & Davies, P. T. (2005). Towards a family process model of maternal and paternal depressive symptoms: Exploring multiple relations with child and family functioning. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 479489.Google Scholar
Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1998). Multiple risk factors in the development of externalizing behavior problems: Group and individual differences. Development and Psychopathology, 10, 469493.Google Scholar
Diamond, A. (2006). The early development of executive functions. In Bialystok, E. & Craik, F. I. M. (Eds.), Lifespan cognition: Mechanisms of change (pp. 7095). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Dishion, T., Brennan, L. M., Shaw, D. S., McEachern, A., Wilson, M. N., & Jo, B. (in press). Prevention of problem behavior through annual Family Check-Ups in early childhood: Intervention effects from home to early elementary school. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A. M., Gardner, F., Weaver, C., & Wilson, M. (2008). The Family Check-Up with high-risk indigent families: Preventing problem behavior by increasing parents' positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Development, 79, 13951414.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., & Stormshak, E. A. (2007). Intervening in children's lives: An ecological, family-centered approach to mental health care. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Stormshak, E. A., & Kavanagh, K. A. (2011). Everyday parenting: A professional's guide to building family management skills. Champaign, IL: Research Press.Google Scholar
Dix, T., Stewart, A. D., Gershoff, E. T., & Day, W. H. (2007). Autonomy and children's reactions to being controlled: Evidence that both compliance and defiance may be positive markers in early development. Child Development, 78, 12041221.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A. (1990). Developmental psychopathology in children of depressed mothers. Developmental Psychology, 26, 36.Google Scholar
Du Rocher Schudlich, T. D., & Cummings, E. M. (2007). Parental dysphoria and children's adjustment: Marital conflict styles, children's emotional security, and parenting as mediators of risk. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 35, 627639.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N., Zhou, Q., Spinrad, T. L., Valiente, C., Fabes, R. A., & Liew, J. (2005). Relations among positive parenting, children's effortful control, and externalizing problems: A three-wave longitudinal study. Child Development, 76, 10551071.Google Scholar
Else-Quest, N. M., Hyde, J. S., Goldsmith, H. H., & Van Hulle, C. A. (2006). Gender differences in temperament: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 132, 3372.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feldman, R. (2007a). Maternal versus child risk and the development of parent–child and family relationships in five high-risk populations. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 293312.Google Scholar
Feldman, R. (2007b). Parentinfant synchrony: Biological foundations and developmental outcomes. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 340345.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrer, E., & McArdle, J. J. (2010). Longitudinal modeling of developmental changes in psychological research. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 19, 149154.Google Scholar
Feske, U., Shear, M. K., Anderson, B., Cyranowski, J., Strassburger, M., Matty, M., et al. (2001). Comparison of severe life stress in depressed mothers and non-mothers: Do children matter? Depression and Anxiety, 13, 109117.Google Scholar
Gartstein, M. A., & Fagot, B. I. (2003). Parental depression, parenting and family adjustment, and child effortful control: Explaining externalizing behavior for preschool children. Applied Developmental Psychology, 24, 143177.Google Scholar
Goodman, S. H., & Gotlib, I. H. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed parents: A developmental approach to the understanding of mechanisms. Psychological Review, 106, 458490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goodman, S. H., Rouse, M. H., Connell, A. M., Broth, M. R., Hall, C. M., & Heyward, D. (2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child Family Psychology Review, 14, 127.Google Scholar
Gorman-Smith, D., & Loeber, R. (2005). Are developmental pathways in disruptive behaviors the same for girls and boys? Journal of Child and Family Studies, 14, 1527.Google Scholar
Gralinski, J. H., & Kopp, C. B. (1993). Everyday rule for behavior: Mothers' requests to young children. Developmental Psychology, 29, 573584.Google Scholar
Greenberg, M. T. (2006). Promoting resilience in children and youth: Preventive interventions and their interface with neuroscience. Annals New York Academy of Sciences, 1094, 139150.Google Scholar
Gross, H. E., Shaw, D. S., Burwell, R. A., & Nagin, D. S. (2009). Transactional processes in child disruptive behavior and maternal depression: A longitudinal study from early childhood to adolescence. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 139156.Google Scholar
Gross, H. E., Shaw, D. S., & Moilanen, K. L. (2008). Reciprocal associations between boys' externalizing problems and mothers' depressive symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 36, 693709.Google Scholar
Gross, H. E., Shaw, D. S., Moilanen, K. L., Dishion, T. J., & Wilson, M. N. (2008). Reciprocal models of child behavior and depressive symptoms in mothers and fathers in a sample of children at risk for early conduct problems. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 742751.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hayes, A. F. (2009). Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs, 76, 408420.Google Scholar
Jaffee, S. R., & Poulton, R. (2006). Reciprocal effects of mothers' depression and children's problem behaviors from middle childhood to early adolescence. In Huston, A. C., Ripke, M. N., & McCord, J. (Eds.), Developmental contexts in middle childhood: Bridges to adolescence and adulthood (pp. 107129). New York: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Keenan, K., & Shaw, D. S. (1994). The development of aggression in toddlers: A study of low-income families. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 22, 5377.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Berglund, P., Demler, O., Jin, R., Koretz, D., Merikangas, K. R., et al. (2003). The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replications (NCS-R). Journal of American Medical Association, 289, 30953105.Google Scholar
Kline, R. B. (2005). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Kochanska, G., Murray, K., & Coy, K. C. (1997). Inhibitory control as a contributor to conscience in childhood: From toddler to early school age. Child Development, 68, 263277.Google Scholar
Kochanska, G., Murray, K. T., & Harlan, E. T. (2000). Effortful control in early childhood: Continuity and change, antecedents, and implications for social development. Developmental Psychology, 36, 220232.Google Scholar
Kochanska, G., Murray, K., Jacques, T. Y., Koenig, A. L., & Vandegeest, K. A. (1996). Inhibitory control in young children and its role in emerging internalization. Child Development, 67, 490507.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kouros, C. D., & Garber, J. (2010). Dynamic associations between maternal depressive symptoms and adolescents' depressive and externalizing symptoms. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 10691081.Google Scholar
Lengua, L. J., Bush, N. R., Long, A. C., Kovacs, E. A., & Trancik, A. M. (2008). Effortful control as a moderator of the relation between contextual risk factors and growth in adjustment problems. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 509528.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Little, R. J. A. (1988). A test of missing completely at random for multivariate data with missing values. Journal of the American Statistical Association, 83, 11981202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeber, R., & Farrington, D. P. (2000). Young children who commit crime: Epidemiology, developmental origins, risk factors, early interventions, and policy implications. Development and Psychopathology, 12, 737762.Google Scholar
Lovejoy, M. C., Graczyk, P. A., O'Hare, E., & Neuman, G. (2000). Maternal depression and parenting: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 561592.Google Scholar
Lunkenheimer, E. S., Dishion, T. J., Shaw, D. S., Connell, A. M., Gardner, F., Wilson, M. N., et al. (2008). Collateral benefits of the family check-up on early childhood school readiness: Indirect effects of parents' positive behavior support. Developmental Psychology, 44, 17371752.Google Scholar
Mangelsdorf, S., Gunnar, M., Kestenbaum, R., Lang, S., & Andreas, D. (1990). Infant proneness-to-distress temperament, maternal personality, and mother–infant attachment: Associations and goodness of fit. Child Development, 61, 820831.Google Scholar
Martel, M. M., & Nigg, J. T. (2006). Child ADHD and personality/temperament traits of reactive and effortful control, resiliency, and emotionality. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 11751183.Google Scholar
McArdle, J. J., & Prindle, J. J. (2008). A latent change score analysis of a randomized clinical trial in reasoning training. Psychology and Aging, 23, 702719.Google Scholar
Moilanen, K. L., Shaw, D. S., Dishion, T. J., Gardner, F., & Wilson, M. (2010). Longitudinal growth and predictors of inhibitory control in early childhood. Social Development, 19, 326347.Google Scholar
Munson, J. A., McMahon, R. J., & Spieker, S. J. (2001). Structure and variability in the developmental trajectory of children's externalizing problems: Impact of infant attachment, maternal depressive symptomatology, and child sex. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 277296.Google Scholar
Murray, K. T., & Kochanska, G. (2002). Effortful control: Factor structures and the relation to externalizing and internalizing behaviors. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 30, 503514.Google Scholar
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. (2007). Mplus user's guide (Version 5.21). Los Angeles: Author.Google Scholar
Nagin, D., & Tremblay, R. E. (1999). Trajectories of boys' physical aggression, opposition, and hyperactivity on the path to physically violent and nonviolent juvenile delinquency. Child Development, 70, 11811196.Google Scholar
Nicholson, J. S., Deboeck, P. R., Farris, J. R., Boker, S. M., & Borkowski, J. G. (2011). Maternal depressive symptomatology and child behavior: Transactional relationship with continuous bidirectional coupling. Developmental Psychology, 47, 13121323.Google Scholar
Olson, S. L., Sameroff, A. J., Kerr, D. C. R., Lopez, N. L, & Wellman, H. M. (2005). Developmental foundations of externalizing problems in young children: The role of effortful control. Development and Psychopathology, 17, 2545.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olson, S. L., Schilling, E. M., & Bates, J. E. (1999). Measurement of impulsivity: Construct coherence, longitudinal stability, and relationship with externalizing problems in middle childhood and adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 151165.Google Scholar
Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385401.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raposa, E. B., Hammen, C. L., & Brennan, P. A. (2011). Effects of child psychopathology on maternal depression: The mediating role of child-related acute and chronic stressors. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 39, 11771186.Google Scholar
Robinson, E. A., Eyberg, S. M., & Ross, A. W. (1980). The standardization of an inventory of child conduct problem behaviors. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 9, 2228.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., Ahadi, S. A., Hershey, K. L., & Fisher, P. (2001). Investigations of temperament at 3–7 years: The Children's Behavior Questionnaire. Child Development, 72, 13941408.Google Scholar
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (1998). Temperament. In Damon, W. (Series Ed.) & Eisenberg, N. (Vol. Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Social, emotional, personality development (Vol. 3, pp. 105176). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J. (2009). The transactional model of development: How children and contexts shape each other. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Sameroff, A. J., & Chandler, M. (1975). Reproductive risk and the continuum of caretaking casualty. In Horowitz, F. D. (Ed.), Review of child development research (Vol. 4, pp. 187244). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Sektnan, M., McClelland, M. M., Acock, A., & Morrison, F. J. (2010). Relations between early family risk, children's behavioral regulation, and academic achievement. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 25, 464479.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., & Bell, R. Q. (1993). Developmental theories of parental contributors to antisocial behavior. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 493518.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Bell, R. Q., & Gilliom, M. (2000). A truly early starter model of antisocial behavior revisited. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 3, 155172.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Connell, A., Dishion, T. J., Wilson, M. N., & Gardner, F. (2009). Improvements in maternal depression as a mediator of intervention effects on early childhood problem behavior. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 417439.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Gilliom, M., Ingoldsby, E. M., & Nagin, D. S. (2003). Trajectories leading to school-age conduct problems. Developmental Psychology, 39, 189200.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Gross, H. E., & Moilanen, K. L. (2009). Developmental transactions between boys' conduct problems and mothers' depressive symptoms. In Sameroff, A. J. (Ed.), The transactional model of human development: How children and contexts shape each other (pp. 7796). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Shaw, D. S., Hyde, L., & Brennan, L. (2012). Early predictors of boys' antisocial trajectories. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 871888.Google Scholar
Spinrad, T. L., Eisenberg, N., Gaertner, B., Popp, T., Smith, C. L., Kupfer, A., et al. (2007). Relations of maternal socialization and toddler's effortful control to children's adjustment and social competence. Developmental Psychology, 43, 11701186.Google Scholar
Sroufe, A. L., Duggal, S., Weinfield, N., & Carlson, E. (2000). Relationships, development, and psychopathology. In Sameroff, A. J., Lewis, M., & Miller, S. M. (Eds.), Handbook of developmental psychopathology (2nd ed., pp. 7591). New York: Plenum Press.Google Scholar
Utendale, W. T., & Hastings, P. D. (2011). Developmental changes in the relations between inhibitory control and externalizing problems during early childhood. Infant and Child Development, 20, 181193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Utendale, W. T., Hubert, M., Saint-Pierre, A. B., & Hastings, P. D. (2011). Neurocognitive development and externalizing problems: The role of inhibitory control deficits from 4 to 6 years. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 476488.Google Scholar
van Loon, L. M. A., Granic, I., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (2011). The role of maternal depression on treatment outcome for children with externalizing behavior problems. Journal of Psychopathology Behavioral Assessment, 33, 178186.Google Scholar
Weinfield, N. S., Ingerski, L., & Moreau, S. C. (2009). Maternal and paternal depressive symptoms as predictors of toddler adjustment. Journal of Family Studies, 18, 3947.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Choe Supplementary Material

Tables S1-S5

Download Choe Supplementary Material(File)
File 23.3 KB