Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T03:01:54.919Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Does father–child conflict mediate the association between fathers’ postnatal depressive symptoms and children's adjustment problems at 7 years old?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2016

S. Nath ,
G. Russell ,
W. Kuyken ,
L. Psychogiou  and
T. Ford
S. Nath*
Affiliation:
Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK
G. Russell
Affiliation:
Institute of Health Research, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
W. Kuyken
Affiliation:
University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Warneford Hospital, Oxford, UK
L. Psychogiou
Affiliation:
Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
T. Ford
Affiliation:
Institute of Health Research, University of Exeter Medical School, Exeter, UK
*
*Address for correspondence: S. Nath, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IOPPN), King's College London, De Crespigny Park, London, UK. (Email: [email protected])
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Paternal depressive symptoms are associated with children's emotional and behavioural problems, which may be mediated by negative parenting. But there is no research on the influence of paternal depressive symptoms on children's emotion regulation and limited literature investigating fathers’ parenting as a mediator in the pathway between paternal depressive symptoms and children's externalizing and internalizing problems. We aimed to investigate the mediating role of father–child conflict (at 3 years) in the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms (at 9 months) and children's emotional and behavioural problems (at 7 years) (aim 1). We also examined whether mediation pathways were more pronounced for boys or for girls (aim 2).

Method

Secondary data analysis was conducted on the Millennium Cohort Study, when children were 9 months, 3 years and 7 years old (n = 3520). Main study variables were measured by self-report questionnaires. Fathers completed the Rutter Scale (depressive symptoms) and the Parent–Child Relationship Questionnaire (father–child conflict), while mothers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Social Behaviour Questionnaire (child emotional and behavioural problems, emotion regulation). We used structural equation modelling to estimate direct, indirect and total effects of paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes, mediated by father–child conflict whilst adjusting for relevant covariates (maternal depressive symptoms, child temperament, marital conflict, and socio-economic factors such as poverty indicator and fathers’ education level). Multi-group and interaction analysis was then conducted to determine the differential effect by gender of the association between paternal depressive symptoms on child outcomes via father–child conflict.

Results

Father–child conflict mediated the association between paternal depressive symptoms and emotion regulation problems [standardized indirect effect (SIE) 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.03 to −0.01, p < 0.001; standardized total effect (STE) 95% CI −0.05 to −0.01, p < 0.05] (aim 1). Father–child conflict mediated a larger proportion of the effect in boys (SIE 95% CI −0.03 to −0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI −0.05 to 0.00, p = 0.063) than it did in girls (SIE 95% CI −0.02 to −0.01, p < 0.001; STE 95% CI −0.04 to 0.01, p = 0.216) (aim 2).

Conclusions

Father–child conflict may mediate the association between postnatal paternal depressive symptoms and children's emotion regulation problems. Paternal depressive symptoms and father–child conflict resolution may be potential targets in preventative interventions.

Keywords

Behavioural problemsemotion regulationfather–child conflictparentingpaternal depressive symptoms
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 46 , Issue 8 , June 2016 , pp. 1719 - 1733
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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

Aspland, H, Gardner, F (2003). Observational measures of parent–child interaction: an introductory review. Child and Adolescent Mental Health 8, 136–143.Google Scholar
Bartley, M, Kelly, Y, Schoon, I, Hope, S (2004). Parent health. In Millennium Cohort Study, First Survey: A User's Guide to Initial Findings (ed. Dex, S. and Joshi, H.), pp. 140–158. Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Beauchaine, TP, Webster-Stratton, C, Reid, MJ (2005). Mediators, moderators, and predictors of 1-year outcomes among children treated for early-onset conduct problems: a latent growth curve analysis. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 73, 371–388.Google Scholar
Belsky, J, Pasco Fearon, R, Bell, B (2007). Parenting, attention and externalizing problems: testing mediation longitudinally, repeatedly and reciprocally. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 48, 1233–1242.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, S, Steele, E, Spjut, K, Dowdle, K, Harper, J (2015). Parent–child connectedness mediates the association between marital conflict and children's internalizing/externalizing outcomes. Journal of Child and Family Studies 24, 3690–3699.Google Scholar
Brody, LR, Hall, JA (2008). Gender and emotion in context. In Handbook of Emotions (ed. Lewis, M., Haviland, J. M. and Barrett, L. F.), pp. 395–408. The Guilford Press: New York.Google Scholar
Brown, GL, Craig, AB, Halberstadt, AG (2015). Parent gender differences in emotion socialization behaviors vary by ethnicity and child gender. Parenting 15, 135–157.Google Scholar
Bruce, C, Fox, GL (1999). Accounting for patterns of father involvement: age of child, father–child coresidence, and father role salience. Sociological Inquiry 69, 458–476.Google Scholar
Cabrera, NJ, Shannon, JD, Tamis-LeMonda, C (2007). Fathers’ influence on their children's cognitive and emotional development: from toddlers to pre-K. Applied Development Science 11, 208–213.Google Scholar
Carey, WB, McDevitt, SC (1978). Revision of the Infant Temperament Questionnaire. Pediatrics 61, 735–739.Google Scholar
Caspi, A, Moffitt, TE, Newman, DL, Silva, PA (1996). Behavioral observations at age 3 years predict adult psychiatric disorders: longitudinal evidence from a birth cohort. Archives of General Psychiatry 53, 1033–1039.Google Scholar
Chaplin, TM, Cole, PM, Zahn-Waxler, C (2005). Parental socialization of emotion expression: gender differences and relations to child adjustment. Emotion 5, 80–88.Google Scholar
Cole, DA, Maxwell, SE (2003). Testing mediational models with longitudinal data: questions and tips in the use of structural equation modeling. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 112, 558–577.Google Scholar
Cummings, EM, Miller-Graff, LE (2015). Emotional security theory an emerging theoretical model for youths’ psychological and physiological responses across multiple developmental contexts. Current Directions in Psychological Science 24, 208–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davé, S, Sherr, L, Senior, R, Nazareth, I (2008). Associations between paternal depression and behaviour problems in children of 4–6 years. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 17, 306–315.Google Scholar
Dette-Hagenmeyer, DE, Reichle, B (2014). Parents’ depressive symptoms and children's adjustment over time are mediated by parenting, but differentially for fathers and mothers. European Journal of Developmental Psychology 11, 196–210.Google Scholar
Dex, S, Joshi, H (editors) (2004). Millennium Cohort Study First Survey: A User's Guide to Initial Findings. Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Dex, S, Joshi, H (editors) (2005). Children of the 21st Century: From Birth to Nine Months, vol. 1. The Policy Press: Bristol.Google Scholar
Driscoll, K, Pianta, RC (2011). Mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions of conflict and closeness in parent–child relationships during early childhood. Journal of Early Childhood and Infant Psychology 7, 1–37.Google Scholar
Edoka, IP, Petrou, S, Ramchandani, PG (2011). Healthcare costs of paternal depression in the postnatal period. Journal of Affective Disorders 133, 356–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Eisenberg, N, Losoya, S, Fabes, RA, Guthrie, IK, Reiser, M, Murphy, B, Shepard, SA, Poulin, R, Padgett, SJ (2001). Parental socialization of children's dysregulated expression of emotion and externalizing problems. Journal of Family Psychology 15, 183–205.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N, Spinrad, TL, Eggum, ND (2010). Emotion-related self-regulation and its relation to children's maladjustment. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology 6, 495–525.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, N, Zhou, Q, Spinrad, TL, Valiente, C, Fabes, RA, Liew, J (2005). Relations among positive parenting, children's effortful control, and externalizing problems: a three-wave longitudinal study. Child Development 76, 1055–1071.Google Scholar
Fagan, J (2014). A review of how researchers have used theory to address research questions about fathers in three large data sets. Journal of Family Theory and Review 6, 374–389.Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, John Horwood, L, Ridder, EM (2005). Show me the child at seven: the consequences of conduct problems in childhood for psychosocial functioning in adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 46, 837–849.Google Scholar
Fischer, A (2000). Gender and Emotion: Social Psychological Perspectives. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fletcher, RJ, Feeman, E, Garfield, C, Vimpani, G (2011). The effects of early paternal depression on children's development. Medical Journal of Australia 195, 685–689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Flouri, E, Malmberg, L-E (2012). Father involvement, family poverty and adversity, and young children's behaviour in intact two-parent families. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies 3, 254–267.Google Scholar
Flouri, E, Midouhas, E, Joshi, H (2014). Family poverty and trajectories of children's emotional and behavioural problems: the moderating roles of self-regulation and verbal cognitive ability. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 42, 1043–1056.Google Scholar
Garber, J, Ciesla, JA, McCauley, E, Diamond, G, Schloredt, KA (2011). Remission of depression in parents: links to healthy functioning in their children. Child Development 82, 226–243.Google Scholar
Garfield, CF (2015). Supporting fatherhood before and after it happens. Pediatrics 135, e528–e530.Google Scholar
Giallo, R, Cooklin, A, Wade, C, D'Esposito, F, Nicholson, J (2014 a). Maternal postnatal mental health and later emotional–behavioural development of children: the mediating role of parenting behaviour. Child: Care, Health and Development 40, 327–336.Google Scholar
Giallo, R, Cooklin, A, Wade, C, D'Esposito, F, Nicholson, JM (2014 b). Fathers’ postnatal mental health and child well-being at age five: the mediating role of parenting behavior. Journal of Family Issues 35, 1543–1562.Google Scholar
Goodman, JH (2004). Paternal postpartum depression, its relationship to maternal postpartum depression, and implications for family health. Journal of Advanced Nursing 45, 26–35.Google Scholar
Goodman, R (2001). Psychometric properties of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 40, 1337–1345.Google Scholar
Gross, J (1998). Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Review of General Psychology 2, 271–299.Google Scholar
Grossmann, K, Grossmann, KE, Fremmer-Bombik, E, Kindler, H, Scheuerer-Englisch, H (2002). The uniqueness of the child–father attachment relationship: fathers’ sensitive and challenging play as a pivotal variable in a 16-year longitudinal study. Social Development 11, 301–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gutierrez-Galve, L, Stein, A, Hanington, L, Heron, J, Ramchandani, P (2015). Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: mediators and moderators. Pediatrics 135, e339–e347.Google Scholar
Hanington, L, Heron, J, Stein, A, Ramchandani, P (2012). Parental depression and child outcomes – is marital conflict the missing link? Child: Care, Health and Development 38, 520–529.Google Scholar
Hanington, L, Ramchandani, P, Stein, A (2010). Parental depression and child temperament: assessing child to parent effects in a longitudinal population study. Infant Behavior and Development 33, 88–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansen, K (2012). Millennium Cohort Study. First, Second, Third and Fourth Surveys: A Guide to the Datasets, 7th edn. Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Hansen, K (2014). Millennium Cohort Study. First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Surveys: A Guide to the Datasets, 8th edn. Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Hoffman, C, Crnic, KA, Baker, JK (2006). Maternal depression and parenting: implications for children's emergent emotion regulation and behavioral functioning. Parenting: Science and Practice 6, 271–295.Google Scholar
Hogan, AE, Scott, KG, Bauer, CR (1992). The Adaptive Social Behavior Inventory (ASBI): a new assessment of social competence in high-risk three-year-olds. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment 10, 230–239.Google Scholar
Johnson, J (2012). Millennium Cohort Study: Psychological, Developmental and Health Inventories. Centre for Longitudinal Studies, Institute of Education, University of London: London.Google Scholar
Kane, P, Garber, J (2004). The relations among depression in fathers, children's psychopathology, and father–child conflict: a meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review 24, 339–360.Google Scholar
Kane, P, Garber, J (2009). Parental depression and child externalizing and internalizing symptoms: unique effects of fathers’ symptoms and perceived conflict as a mediator. Journal of Child and Family Studies 18, 465–472.Google Scholar
Ketende, S, Joshi, H (2008). Income and poverty. In Millennium Cohort Study, Third Survey: a User's Guide to Initial Findings (ed. Hasan, K. and Joshi, H.). Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Ketende, SC, Jones, EM (2011). Millennium Cohort Study: User Guide to Analysing MCS Data using STATA. Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Kiel, EJ, Kalomiris, AE (2015). Current themes in understanding children's emotion regulation as developing from within the parent–child relationship. Current Opinion in Psychology 3, 11–16.Google Scholar
Kiernan, KE, Huerta, MC (2008). Economic deprivation, maternal depression, parenting and children's cognitive and emotional development in early childhood. British Journal of Sociology 59, 783–806.Google Scholar
MacDonald, K, Parke, RD (1986). Parent–child physical play: the effects of sex and age of children and parents. Sex Roles 15, 367–378.Google Scholar
Malmberg, L, Flouri, E (2011). The comparison and interdependence of maternal and paternal influences on young children's behavior and resilience. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology 40, 434–444.Google Scholar
Margolin, G, Oliver, PH, Medina, AM (2001). Conceptual issues in understanding the relation between interparental conflict and child adjustment: integrating developmental psychopathology and risk/resilience perspectives. In Interparental Conflict and Child Development: Theory, Research and Applications (ed. Grych, J. H. and Fincham, F. D.), pp. 9–38. Cambridge University Press: New York.Google Scholar
Maxwell, SE, Cole, DA (2007). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation. Psychological Methods 12, 23–44.Google Scholar
Maxwell, SE, Cole, DA, Mitchell, MA (2011). Bias in cross-sectional analyses of longitudinal mediation: partial and complete mediation under an autoregressive model. Multivariate Behavioral Research 46, 816–841.Google Scholar
Mensah, F, Kiernan, K (2011). Maternal general health and children's cognitive development and behaviour in the early years: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. Child: Care, Health and Development 37, 44–54.Google Scholar
Muris, P, Meester, C, van den Berg, F (2003). The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): further evidence for its reliability and validity in a community sample of Dutch children and adolescents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 12, 1–8.Google Scholar
Nath, S, Russell, G, Kuyken, W, Ford, T, Psychogiou, L (2015). Postnatal paternal depressive symptoms associated with fathers’ subsequent parenting: findings from the Millennium Cohort Study. British Journal of Psychiatry 207, 558–559.Google Scholar
Natsuaki, MN, Shaw, DS, Neiderhiser, JM, Ganiban, JM, Harold, GT, Reiss, D, Leve, LD (2014). Raised by depressed parents: is it an environmental risk? Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 17, 357–367.Google Scholar
Niarchou, M, Zammit, S, Lewis, G (2015). The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort as a resource for studying psychopathology in childhood and adolescence: a summary of findings for depression and psychosis. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 50, 1017–1027.Google Scholar
Niclasen, J, Teasdale, TW, Andersen, AMN, Skovgaard, AM, Elberling, H, Obel, C (2012). Psychometric properties of the Danish Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: the SDQ assessed for more than 70,000 raters in four different cohorts. PLOS ONE 7, e32025.Google Scholar
Panter-Brick, C, Burgess, A, Eggerman, M, McAllister, F, Pruett, K, Leckman, JF (2014). Practitioner review: engaging fathers – recommendations for a game change in parenting interventions based on a systematic review of the global evidence. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 55, 1187–1212.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pianta, RC, Steinberg, M (1992). Teacher–child relationships and the process of adjusting to school. New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development 1992, 61–80.Google Scholar
Pianta, RC, Steinberg, MS, Rollins, KB (1995). The first two years of school: teacher–child relationships and deflections in children's classroom adjustment. Development and Psychopathology 7, 295–312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pilowsky, DJ, Wickramaratne, P, Poh, E, Hernandez, M, Batten, LA, Flament, MF, Stewart, JW, Blier, P, Weissman, MM (2014). Psychopathology and functioning among children of treated depressed fathers and mothers. Journal of Affective Disorders 164, 107–111.Google Scholar
Plewis, I, Ketende, S (2006). Millennium Cohort Study: Technical Report on Responses, 1st edn. (ed. Ketende, S. C.). Centre for Longitudinal Studies: London.Google Scholar
Psychogiou, L, Parry, E (2014). Why do depressed individuals have difficulties in their parenting role? Psychological Medicine 44, 1345–1347.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, P, Psychogiou, L (2009). Paternal psychiatric disorders and children's psychosocial development. Lancet 374, 646–653.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, P, Stein, A, Evans, J, O'Connor, TG (2005). Paternal depression in the postnatal period and child development: a prospective population study. Lancet 365, 2201–2205.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, PG, Domoney, J, Sethna, V, Psychogiou, L, Vlachos, H, Murray, L (2013). Do early father–infant interactions predict the onset of externalising behaviours in young children? Findings from a longitudinal cohort study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54, 56–64.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, PG, Murphy, SE (2013). Parental depression and the challenge of preventing mental illness in children. British Journal of Psychiatry 202, 84–85.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, PG, O'Connor, TG, Evans, J, Heron, J, Murray, L, Stein, A (2008 a). The effects of pre- and postnatal depression in fathers: a natural experiment comparing the effects of exposure to depression on offspring. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 49, 1069–1078.Google Scholar
Ramchandani, PG, Stein, A, O'Connor, TG, Heron, J, Murray, L, Evans, J (2008 b). Depression in men in the postnatal period and later child psychopathology: a population cohort study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 47, 390–398.Google Scholar
Rodgers, B, Pickles, A, Power, C, Collishaw, S, Maughan, B (1999). Validity of the Malaise Inventory in general population samples. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 34, 333–341.Google Scholar
Rust, J, Bennun, I, Crowe, M, Golombok, S (1990). The GRIMS. A psychometric instrument for the assessment of marital discord. Journal of Family Therapy 12, 45–57.Google Scholar
Rutter, M (2009). Understanding and testing risk mechanisms for mental disorders. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 50, 44–52.Google Scholar
Rutter, M, Dunn, J, Plomin, R, Simonoff, E, Pickles, A, Maughan, B, Ormel, J, Meyer, J, Eaves, L (1997). Integrating nature and nurture: implications of person–environment correlations and interactions for developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology 9, 335–364.Google Scholar
Rutter, M, Tizard, J, Whitmore, K (1970). Education, Health and Behaviour. Longman Publishing Group: London.Google Scholar
Sanders, W, Zeman, J, Poon, J, Miller, R (2015). Child regulation of negative emotions and depressive symptoms: the moderating role of parental emotion socialization. Journal of Child and Family Studies 24, 402–415.Google Scholar
Scott, S, Knapp, M, Henderson, J, Maughan, B (2001). Financial cost of social exclusion: follow up study of antisocial children into adulthood. BMJ (Clinical Research ed.) 323, 191.Google Scholar
Selig, JP, Preacher, KJ (2009). Mediation models for longitudinal data in developmental research. Research in Human Development 6, 144–164.Google Scholar
Sethna, V, Murray, L, Netsi, E, Psychogiou, L, Ramchandani, PG (2015). Paternal depression in the postnatal period and early father–infant interactions. Parenting, Science and Practice 15, 1–8.Google Scholar
Sherr, L, Davé, S, Lucas, P, Senior, R, Nazareth, I (2006). A feasibility study on recruiting fathers of young children to examine the impact of paternal depression on child development. Child Psychiatry and Human Development 36, 295–309.Google Scholar
Silk, JS, Shaw, DS, Skuban, EM, Oland, AA, Kovacs, M (2006). Emotion regulation strategies in offspring of childhood-onset depressed mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 47, 69–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snell, T, Knapp, M, Healey, A, Guglani, S, Evans-Lacko, S, Fernandez, JL, Meltzer, H, Ford, T (2013). Economic impact of childhood psychiatric disorder on public sector services in Britain: estimates from national survey data. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 54, 977–985.Google Scholar
Sterne, JA, White, IR, Carlin, JB, Spratt, M, Royston, P, Kenward, MG, Wood, AM, Carpenter, JR (2009). Multiple imputation for missing data in epidemiological and clinical research: potential and pitfalls. BMJ (Clinical Research ed.) 338, b2393.Google Scholar
Stone, LL, Otten, R, Engels, RC, Vermulst, AA, Janssens, JM (2010). Psychometric properties of the parent and teacher versions of the strengths and difficulties questionnaire for 4- to 12-year-olds: a review. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review 13, 254–274.Google Scholar
Wilson, KR, Havighurst, SS, Harley, AE (2014). Dads tuning in to kids: piloting a new parenting program targeting fathers’ emotion coaching skills. Journal of Community Psychology 42, 162–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, S, Durbin, CE (2010). Effects of paternal depression on fathers’ parenting behaviors: a meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review 30, 167–180.Google Scholar
Wolke, D, Waylen, A, Samara, M, Steer, C, Goodman, R, Ford, T, Lamberts, K (2009). Selective drop-out in longitudinal studies and non-biased prediction of behaviour disorders. British Journal of Psychiatry 195, 249–256.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Nath supplementary material

Tables S1-S3

Download Nath supplementary material(File)
File 129.5 KB