Coping and Stress Reactivity as Moderators of Maternal Depressive Symptoms and Youth's Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Terror catastrophizing: association with anxiety, depression, and transgenerational effects

Background & Objectives: Terror catastrophizing, defined as an ongoing fear of future terrorist attacks, is associated with a higher incidence of anxiety disorders, among other psychological impacts. However, previous studies examining terror catastrophizing's relationship to other mental health disorders are limited. The current study sought to determine if patients diagnosed with anxiety and depression would experience increased terror catastrophizing. Additionally, this study aimed to investigate whether parental terror catastrophizing increases children's internalizing symptoms.Design & Methods: Individuals were randomly drawn from the Danish Civil Registration System and invited to complete a series of questionnaires to measure terror catastrophizing tendency, lifetime parental trauma, and children's internalizing symptoms. In total, n = 4,175 invitees completed the survey of which 933 reported on a child between 6 and 18 years. Responses were analyzed using a generalized linear regression model.Results: Participants diagnosed with anxiety alone or comorbid with depression were more likely to experience symptoms of terror catastrophizing than undiagnosed participants (β = 0.10, p < .001; β = 0.07, p = .012). Furthermore, the parental tendency to catastrophize terror was associated with higher internalizing symptoms in children (β = 0.09, p = .006), even after taking parental diagnoses, as well as lifetime and childhood trauma into account.Conclusion: The results can inform clinical practices to account for a patient's potential to exhibit increased terror catastrophizing tendencies or be more affected by traumatic events. Additionally, they can offer insights for designing novel preventative interventions for the whole family, due to the relation between parental tendencies for terror catastrophizing and the internalizing symptoms observed in children.

The Impact of Parental Mental Health Diagnoses, Trauma, and Coping Mechanisms on Their Children's Well-Being

The transgenerational effects of parental diagnoses, trauma and coping mechanisms on children's internalizing symptoms are not well understood. In a population-based study of 933 families combining data from a web-based survey and the Danish registers, we used an online survey of parents to examine how parental diagnoses, trauma and coping mechanisms affect the development of internalizing symptoms in children aged 6 to 18 years. To account for attrition, we used inverse probability weights in our regression models. Children of parents diagnosed with depression or anxiety displayed more internalizing symptoms than children of controls. Similarly, children of parents who experienced multiple trauma had significantly more internalizing symptoms. In contrast, we observed significantly fewer internalizing symptoms among children of parents who felt they could cope well. The protective effect of parental coping persisted even after adjusting for parental diagnoses or trauma. Interventions boosting parental coping mechanisms might help to prevent the development of internalizing symptoms in children even among patients who have been diagnosed with depression or anxiety or experienced a high trauma load.

Maternal Parenting Stress, Disengagement Strategies for Managing Parenting Stress, and Hazardous Alcohol Use among Mothers of Adolescents

Objective: According to the reward- stress dysregulation model of addiction and parenting, parenting stress may play a critical role in the etiology and maintenance of substance misuse. To date, limited work has examined how parenting stress may relate to hazardous alcohol use among mothers of adolescents. The present study examined if parenting stress interacted with maternal stress responses (i.e., disengagement coping, involuntary disengagement stress responses) in relation to maternal hazardous alcohol use. Method: Two hundred and fifty-three mothers (n = 147 hazardous alcohol users; 58% of the sample) of adolescents between the ages of 12 and 16 years participated in the current study. Mothers were recruited using Qualtrics panel services. Mothers reported on their parenting stress, strategies for managing parenting stress, and use of alcohol. Mothers also reported basic demographic information (Mage = 41.10 years, 86.6% identified as white, 81.1% of mothers were married). Interaction analyses were used to test hypotheses. Results: Maternal parenting stress interacted with maternal involuntary disengagement stress responses in relation to maternal hazardous alcohol use, such that at average and high levels of disengagement stress responses, parenting stress was associated with hazardous alcohol use. These results were robust to covariates (i.e., family income, maternal anxiety symptoms, maternal depressive symptoms, general levels of maternal stress, maternal cigarette use). Maternal disengagement coping strategies were not related to maternal hazardous alcohol use. Conclusion: Results suggest that parenting stress and involuntary disengagement stress responses may be associated with hazardous alcohol use among mothers of adolescents.

Stress and Coping in Youth With Spina Bifida: A Brief Longitudinal Study in a Summer Camp Setting

Introduction

It is well established that youth with chronic conditions experience elevated levels of stress; the manner in which they respond to or cope with this stress is likely to impact both health and psychosocial outcomes. The current study examined stress and coping in youth and young adults with spina bifida (SB) using the response to stress questionnaire-SB version (RSQ-SB; Connor-Smith et al., 2000).

Methods

Data were collected as part of a camp-based psychosocial intervention for children (ages 7–13), adolescents (ages 14–19), and young adults (ages 20–38) with SB. Participants completed the RSQ-SB as well as questionnaires assessing demographics and condition severity. Data were collected prior to camp (T1) and 1 month (T2) after camp ended. Self-report data were collected from adolescents and young adults; parents of children and adolescents reported on their child’s stress and coping. Ratios of primary control coping, secondary control coping, disengagement coping, involuntary engagement, and involuntary disengagement coping were calculated. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were utilized to describe coping and stress responses and to determine potential change over time. T-tests were also used to compare youth and parent reported coping styles with those of youth with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and sickle cell disease (SCD). Associations between demographic/disease factors and coping styles were also examined.

Results

Parent and youth report indicated that youth with SB tend to use primary control coping. Youth with SB use more primary control coping and less disengagement coping compared to youth with SCD and youth with T1D. Few significant changes in coping were found between T1 and T2. IQ and socioeconomic status were significantly associated with coping styles.

Conclusion

Youth with SB use more primary control coping compared to other coping methods and as compared to other pediatric populations. Future studies should examine mechanisms by which primary control coping is advantageous for youth with SB. Future interventions should be more focused on promoting adaptive coping behaviors and be tailored to developmental age and access to resources.

Pathways to Adolescent Emotional and Behavioral Problems: An Examination of Maternal Depression and Harsh Parenting

BACKGROUND

Maternal depression is linked with a range of child and adolescent outcomes. Prior research suggests adverse consequences for child and youth development, but less is known about the role of adverse parenting in the pathways from maternal depression to adolescent emotional and behavioral problems.

OBJECTIVE

The present study leveraged a large, longitudinal survey of families across the U.S. to investigate whether harsh parenting mediated the links between maternal depression and adolescent delinquency and depression.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Data came from a national longitudinal survey of families with children born in large U.S. cities 1998-2000 in which mothers had at least partial custody of children (N = 2,719).

METHODS

Structural equation modeling with latent variables estimated a measurement model using confirmatory factor analysis and a structural model testing direct and indirect pathways.

RESULTS

Maternal depression was directly associated with both physical and psychological aggression in parenting (β = 0.08, p < 0.001 and β = 0.12, p < 0.001, respectively), and psychological aggression related directly with adolescent delinquency (β = 0.24, p < 0.01). Furthermore, maternal depression was indirectly associated with adolescent delinquency via psychological aggression in parenting (β = 0.03, p < 0.05). Physical aggression in parenting did not mediate links between maternal depression and either adolescent outcome.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings provide insights into the parent-level drivers of adolescent emotional and behavioral outcomes. Screening for maternal depression and providing parenting support to vulnerable families offers promise for preventing adverse parenting and supporting healthy adolescent development.