Borairi S, Deneault AA, Madigan S, Fearon P, Devereux C, Geer M, Jeyanayagam B, Martini J, Jenkins J. A meta-analytic examination of sensitive responsiveness as a mediator between depression in mothers and psychopathology in children.
Attach Hum Dev 2024;
26:273-300. [PMID:
38860779 DOI:
10.1080/14616734.2024.2359689]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2023] [Accepted: 05/21/2024] [Indexed: 06/12/2024]
Abstract
The current meta-analysis examined the mediating role of sensitive-responsive parenting in the relationship between depression in mothers and internalizing and externalizing behavior in children. A systematic review of the path of maternal sensitive responsiveness to child psychopathology identified eligible studies. Meta-analytic structural equation modelling (MASEM) allowed for the systematic examination of the magnitude of the indirect effect across 68 studies (N = 15,579) for internalizing and 92 studies (N = 26,218) for externalizing psychopathology. The synthesized sample included predominantly White, English-speaking children (age range = 1 to 205 months; Mage = 66 months; 47% female) from Western, industrialized countries. The indirect pathway was small in magnitude and similar for externalizing (b = .02) and internalizing psychopathology (b = .01). Moderator analyses found that the indirect pathway for externalizing problems was stronger when mother-child interactions were observed during naturalistic and free-play tasks rather than structured tasks. Other tested moderators were not significant.
Collapse