Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T20:52:38.404Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Maternal symptoms of depression and sensitivity mediate the relation between maternal history of early adversity and her child temperament: The inheritance of circumstance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2019

Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot ,
Alison S. Fleming ,
Eva Unternaehrer ,
Andrea Gonzalez ,
Leslie Atkinson ,
Hélène Gaudreau ,
Meir Steiner  and
Michael J. Meaney
Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot*
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Alison S. Fleming
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada Institute for Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Eva Unternaehrer
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Andrea Gonzalez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Leslie Atkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Hélène Gaudreau
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Meir Steiner
Affiliation:
St. Joseph's Hospital and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Michael J. Meaney
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore
*
Author for Correspondence: Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 6875 Blvd. LaSalle, Montréal, Québec, CanadaH4H 1R3; E-mail: andree-anne.bouvette-turcot@mail.mcgill.ca.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We examined maternal depression and maternal sensitivity as mediators of the association between maternal childhood adversity and her child's temperament in 239 mother–child dyads from a longitudinal, birth cohort study. We used an integrated measure of maternal childhood adversity that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Index. Maternal depression was assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 6 months postpartum. Maternal sensitivity was assessed with the Ainsworth maternal sensitivity scales at 6 months. A measure of “negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation” was derived from the Early Childhood Behaviour Questionnaire administered at 36 months. Bootstrapping-based mediation analyses revealed that maternal depression mediated the effect of maternal childhood adversity on offspring negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation (95% confidence interval [0.026, 0.144]). We also found a serial, indirect effect of maternal childhood adversity on child negative emotionality/behavioral mediated first by maternal depression and then by maternal sensitivity (95% confidence interval [0.031, 0.156]). Results suggest the intergenerational transmission of the effects of maternal childhood adversity to the offspring occurs through a two-step, serial pathway, involving maternal depression and maternal sensitivity.

Keywords

intergenerational risk transmissionmaternal adversitymaternal depressionmaternal sensitivitynegative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 605 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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

Ainsworth, M. D., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment: A psychological study of the Strange Situation. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Alink, L. R. A., Cicchetti, D., Kim, J., & Rogosch, F. A. (2009). Mediating and moderating processes in the relation between maltreatment and psychopathology: Mother-child relationship quality and emotion regulation. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 37, 831–843. doi:10.1007/s10802-009-9314-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Alink, L. R. A., Mesman, J., van Zeijl, J., Stolk, M. N., Juffer, F., Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., … Koot, H. M. (2009). Maternal sensitivity moderates the relation between negative discipline and aggression in early childhood. Social Development, 18, 99–120. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9507.2008.00478.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bakermans-Kranenburg, M. J., van IJzendoorn, M. H., & Juffer, F. (2003). Less is more: Meta-analyses of sensitivity and attachment interventions in early childhood. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 195–215. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.129.2.195CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berlin, L. J., Appleyard, K., & Dodge, K. A. (2011). Intergenerational continuity in child maltreatment: Mediating mechanisms and implications for prevention. Child Development, 82, 162–176. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01547.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bernstein, D. P., Fink, L., Handelsman, L., Foote, J., Lovejoy, M., Wenzel, K., … Ruggiero, J. (1994). Initial reliability and validity of a new retrospective measure of child abuse and neglect. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1132–1136.Google ScholarPubMed
Bouvette-Turcot, A.-A., Fleming, A. S., Wazana, A., Sokolowski, M. B., Gaudreau, H., Gonzalez, A., … Meaney, M. J. (2015). Maternal childhood adversity and child temperament: An association moderated by child 5-HTTLPR genotype. Genes, Brain, and Behavior, 14, 229–237. doi:10.1111/gbb.12205CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Collishaw, S., Dunn, J., O'Connor, T. G., & Golding, J. (2007). Maternal childhood abuse and offspring adjustment over time. Development and Psychopathology, 19, 367–383. doi:10.10170S0954579407070186CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Compas, B. E., Connor-Smith, J., & Jaser, S. S. (2004). Temperament, stress reactivity, and coping: Implications for depression in childhood and adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 33, 21–31. doi:10.1207/S15374424JCCP3301_3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cox, J. L., Holden, J. M., & Sagovsky, R. (1987). Detection of postnatal depression. Development of the 10-item Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. British Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 782–786. doi:10.1192/bjp.150.6.782CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eberhard-Gran, M., Eskild, A., Tambs, K., Opjordsmoen, S., & Ove Samuelsen, S. (2001). Review of validation studies of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 104, 243–249. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2001.00187.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ertem, I. O., Leventhal, J. M., & Dobbs, S. (2000). Intergenerational continuity of child physical abuse: How good is the evidence? Lancet, 356, 814–819.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Field, T., Diego, M., & Hernandez-Reif, M. (2006). Prenatal depression effects on the fetus and newborn: A review. Infant Behavior and Development, 29, 445–455. doi:j.infbeh.2006.03.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fleming, A. S., Kraemer, G. W., Gonzalez, A., Lovic, V., Rees, S., & Melo, A. (2002). Mothering begets mothering: The transmission of behavior and its neurobiology across generations. Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, 73, 61–75. doi:10.1016/s0091-3057(02)00793-1CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gartstein, M. A., Crawford, J., & Robertson, C. D. (2008). Early markers of language and attention: Mutual contributions and the impact of parent–infant interactions. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 39, 9–26. doi:10.1007/s10578-007-0067-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodman, R. (1997). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research note. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 38, 581–586.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
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 and Family Psychology Review, 14, 1–27. doi:10.1007/s10567-010-0080-1CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hane, A. A., & Fox, N. A. (2006). Ordinary variations in maternal caregiving influence human infants' stress reactivity. Psychological Science, 17, 550–556. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01742.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. New York: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Heim, C., & Nemeroff, C. B. (2001). The role of childhood trauma in the neurobiology of mood and anxiety disorders: Preclinical and clinical studies. Society of Biological Psychiatry, 49, 1023–1039. doi:10.1016/S0006-3223(01)01157-XCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heron, J., O'Connor, T. G., Evans, J., Golding, J., Glover, V., & ALSPAC Team Study. (2004). The course of anxiety and depression through pregnancy and the postpartum in a community sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 80, 65–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holzwarth, K., & Meyer, T. D. (2006). The dysregulation of the “Behavioural Activation System”: An independent dimension. Personality and Individual Differences, 41, 319–328. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.12.020CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnson, S. L., Turner, R. J., & Iwata, N. (2003). Levels and psychiatric disorder: An epidemiological study. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioural Assessment, 25, 25–36. doi:10.1023/A:1022247919288CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawson, K. R., Parrinello, R., & Ruff, H. A. (1992). Maternal behavior and infant attention. Infant Behavior and Development, 15, 209–229. doi:10.1016/0163-6383(92)80024-OCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lizardi, H., & Klein, D. N. (2005). Long-term stability of parental representations in depressed outpatients utilizing the Parental Bonding Instrument. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 193, 183–188.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Malphurs, J. E., Raag, T., Field, T., Pickens, J., & Pelaez-Nogueras, M. (1996). Touch by intrusive and withdrawn mothers with depressive symptoms. Early Development and Parenting, 5, 111–115. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1099-0917(199606)5:23.0.CO;2-#3.0.CO;2-#>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martinez-Torteya, C., Dayton, C. J., Beeghly, M., Seng, J. S., McGinnis, E., Broderick, A., … Muzik, M. (2014). Maternal parenting predicts infant biobehavioral regulation among women with a history of childhood maltreatment. Development and Psychopathology, 26, 379–392. doi:10.1017/S0954579414000017CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Martins, C., & Gaffan, E. A. (2000). Effects of early maternal depression on patterns of infant–mother attachment: A meta-analytic investigation. Journal of Child Pychology and Psychiatry, 41, 737–746. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00661CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Meaney, M. J. (2001). Maternal care, gene expression, and the transmission of individual differences in stress reactivity across generations. Annual Review in Neuroscience, 24, 1161–1192. doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.24.1.1161CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mileva-Seitz, V., Kennedy, J., Atkinson, L., Steiner, M., Levitan, R., Matthews, S. G., … Fleming, A. S. (2011). Serotonin transporter allelic variation in mothers predicts maternal sensitivity, behavior and attitudes toward 6-month-old infants. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 10, 325–333. doi:10.1111/j.1601-183X.2010.00671.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Miranda, J. K., de la Osa, N., Granero, R., & Ezpeleta, L. (2013). Multiple mediators of the relationships among maternal childhood abuse, intimate partner violence, and offspring psychopathology. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 2941–2965. doi:10.1177/0886260513488686CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moss, E., Dubois-Comtois, K., Cyr, C., Tarabulsy, G. M., St-Laurent, D., & Bernier, A. (2011). Efficacy of a home-visiting intervention aimed at improving maternal sensitivity, child attachment, and behavioral outcomes for maltreated children: A randomized control trial. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 195–210. doi:10.1017/ S0954579410000738CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murray, L., Fiori-Cowley, A., Hooper, R., & Cooper, P. (1996). The impact of postnatal depression and associated adversity on early mother-infant interactions and later infant outcome. Child Development, 67, 2512–2526. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1996.tb01871.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Myhre, M. C., Dyb, G. A., Wentzel-Larsen, T., Grøgaard, J. B., & Thoresen, S. (2014). Maternal childhood abuse predicts externalizing behaviour in toddlers: A prospective cohort study. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, 42, 263–269. doi:10.1177/1403494813510983CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
O'Donnell, K. A., Gaudreau, H., Colalillo, S., Steiner, M., Atkinson, L., Moss, E., … Meaney, M. J. (2014). The maternal adversity, vulnerability and neurodevelopment project: Theory and methodology. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 59, 497–508.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G. (1981). Parental reports of depressives: An investigation of several explanations. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 131–140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Parker, G., Tupling, H., & Brown, L. B. (1979). A parental bonding instrument. British Journal of Medical Psychology, 52, 1–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pauli-Pott, U., Mertesacker, B., & Beckmann, D. (2004). Predicting the development of infant emotionality from maternal characteristics. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 19–42. doi:10.1017/S0954579404044396CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pawlby, S., Hay, D. F., Sharp, D., Waters, C. S., & O'Keane, V. (2009). Antenatal depression predicts depression in adolescent offspring: Prospective longitudinal community-based study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 113, 236–243.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pawlby, S., Hay, D., Sharp, D., Waters, C. S., & Pariante, C. M. (2011). Antenatal depression and offspring psychopathology: The influence of childhood maltreatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 199, 106–112. doi:bjp.bp.110.087734CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plant, D. T., Barker, E. D., Waters, C. S., Pawlby, S., & Pariante, C. M. (2013). Intergenerational transmission of maltreatment and psychopathology: The role of antenatal depression. Psychological Medicine, 43, 519–528. doi:10.1017/S0033291712001298CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plant, D. T., Pariante, C. M., Sharp, D., & Pawlby, S. (2015). Maternal depression during pregnancy and offspring depression in adulthood: Role of child maltreatment. British Journal of Psychiatry, 207, 213–220.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Plantes, M. M., Prusoff, B. A., Brennan, J., & Parker, G. (1988). Parental representations of depressed outpatients from a USA sample. Journal of Affective Disorders, 15, 149–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putnam, S. P., Gartstein, M. A., & Rothbart, M. K. (2006). Measurement of fine-grained aspects of toddler temperament: The early childhood behavior questionnaire. Infant Behavior and Development, 29, 386–401. doi:10.1016/j.infbeh.2006.01.004CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
R Core Team. (2015). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. Vienna, Austria: R Foundation for Statistical Computing.Google Scholar
Rifkin-Graboi, A., Bai, J., Chen, H., Hameed, W. B., Sim, L. W., Tint, M. T., … Qiu, A. (2013). Prenatal maternal depression associates with microstructure of right amygdala in neonates at birth. Biological Psychiatry, 74, 837–844. doi:10.1016/ j.biopsych.2013.06.019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rijlaarsdam, J., Stevens, G. W. J. M., Jansen, P. W., Ringoot, A. P., Jaddoe, V. W. V., Hofman, A., … Tiemeier, H. (2014). Maternal childhood maltreatment and offspring emotional and behavioral problems: Maternal and paternal mechanisms of risk transmission. Child Maltreatment, 19, 67–78. doi:10.1177/1077559514527639CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Roberts, R., O'Connor, T., Dunn, J., Golding, J., & Alspac Study Team. (2004). The effects of child sexual abuse in later family life; mental health, parenting and adjustment of offspring. Child Abuse and Neglect, 28, 525–545. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2003.07.006CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rothbart, M. K., & Bates, J. E. (2006). Temperament. In Damon, W., Lerner, R., & Eisenberg, N. (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (pp. 99–166). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Rubin, K. H., Both, L., Zahn-Waxler, C., Cummings, E. M., & Wilkinson, M. (1991). The dyadic play behaviors of preschoolers with depressed versus well mothers. Development and Psychopathology, 3, 243–251. doi:10.1017/S0954579400005289CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shanahan, L., Copeland, W., Costello, E. J., & Angold, A. (2008). Specificity of putative psychosocial risk factors for psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 49, 34–42. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01822.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sugaya, L., Hasin, D. S., Olfson, M., Lin, K-H., Grant, B. F., & Blanco, C. (2012). Child physical abuse and adult mental health: A national study. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 25, 384–392. doi:10.1002/jts.21719CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thornberry, T. P., Knight, K. E., & Lovegrove, P. J. (2012). Does maltreatment beget maltreatment? A systematic review of the intergenerational literature. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 13, 135–152.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Towe-Goodman, N. R., & Teti, D. M. (2008). Power assertive discipline, maternal emotional involvement, and child adjustment. Journal of Family Psychology, 22, 648–651. doi:10.1037/a0012661CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
van Brakel, A., Muris, P., Bögels, S., & Thomassen, C. (2006). A multifactorial model for the etiology of anxiety in non-clinical adolescents: Main and interactive effects of behavioral inhibition, attachment and parental rearing. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 15, 568–578. doi:10.1007/s10826-006-9061-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Waerden, J., Galéra, C., Larroque, B., Saurel-Cubizolles, M-J., Sutter-Dallay, A-L., & Melchior, M. (2015). Maternal depression trajectories and children's behavior at age 5 years. Journal of Pediatrics, 166, 1440–1448. doi:10.1016/ j.jpeds.2015.03.002CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Nomura, Y., Warner, V., Pilowsky, D., & Verdeli, H. (2006). Offspring of depressed parents: 20 years later. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 1001–1008.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M., Wickramaratne, P., Nomura, Y., Warner, V., Verdeli, H., Pilowsky, D. J., … Bruder, G. (2005). Families at high and low risk for depression—A 3-generation study. Archives of General Psychiatry, 62, 29–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wickramaratne, P., Gameroff, M. J., Pilowsky, D. J., Hughes, C. W., Garber, J., Malloy, E., … Weissman, M. M. (2011). Children of depressed mothers 1 year after remission of maternal depression: Findings from the STAR*D-Child study. American Journal of Psychiatry, 168, 593–602. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10010032CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Widom, C. S., DuMont, K., & Czaja, S. J. (2007). A prospective investigation of major depressive disorder and comorbidity in abused and neglected children grown up. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64, 49–56.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilhelm, K., Boyce, P., & Brownhill, S. (2004). The relationship between interpersonal sensitivity, anxiety disorders and major depression. Journal of Affective Disorders, 79, 33–41.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilhelm, K., Niven, H., Parker, G., & Hadzi-Pavlovic, D. (2005). The stability of the Parental Bonding Instrument over a 20-year period. Psychological Medicine, 35, 387–393.CrossRefGoogle Scholar