The Longitudinal Association Between Parent-Child Attachment and Adolescent Depressive Symptoms: Moderation by Oxytocin Receptor Polymorphisms

Reciprocal associations between parent-child relationships and adolescent depressive symptoms: The longitudinal mediation role of insomnia and sex differences.

Paternal versus maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing/externalizing problems: a comparative threshold analysis.

BACKGROUND Parental depression is a well-established risk factor for child psychopathology, yet most studies focus on mothers. Whether nonlinear patterns with thresholds exist, especially for fathers, remains unclear. This study examines these associations and identified optimal thresholds comparing mothers and fathers. METHODS This cross-sectional study included 21,366 parents (16,258 mothers and 5108 fathers) of children aged 3-6 years in western China. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD). Child internalizing and externalizing problems were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Piecewise logistic regression with grid search identified thresholds, adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic covariates. RESULTS Higher CES-D scores were associated with increased odds of child problems (all P < 0.001). The gender by CES-D interaction was significant for externalizing problems (P = 0.019), indicating a stronger association in fathers. For internalizing problems, the optimal threshold was a CES-D score of 17 for both mothers and fathers. For externalizing problems, the threshold was lower in fathers (16) than in mothers (21). Below these thresholds, each one-point increase in CES-D score was associated with 10-16% higher odds of child problems. Above the thresholds, the associations were attenuated. Piecewise models fitted significantly better than linear models (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Fathers' depressive symptoms were associated with child externalizing problems at a lower severity level compared with mothers, suggesting that screening for paternal depression even at subclinical levels may help identify families at elevated risk. The identified thresholds may help generate hypotheses for future longitudinal and clinical validation studies.

The independent protective role of paternal involvement in the association between maternal containment and depressive symptoms in children aged 3-6

Aims: This study examined the relationship between maternal containment function and depressive symptoms in children aged 3-6 years, with particular attention to the independent protective role of paternal involvement.Methods: The sample consisted of 386 mother–father dyads whose children were clinically referred to an outpatient child psychiatry clinic in İstanbul due to early emotional and behavioral distress. Child depressive symptoms were measured using the Child Depression Symptom Scale (CDSS), maternal containment was assessed using the Parental Containment Function Scale (PCFS), and paternal involvement was assessed using the Father Involvement Scale (FIS). Data were analyzed using non parametric tests, Spearman correlations (ρ), and bootstrapped mediation analyses. Results: Higher levels of maladaptive maternal containment (e.g., separation sensitivity, authoritarian–rigid parenting) demonstrated a significant positive association with increased depressive symptoms in children. In contrast, greater paternal involvement, particularly discretionary engagement and affection–closeness, was negatively associated with child depressive symptoms. Mediation analyses indicated that although paternal involvement contributed to lower depressive symptoms as an independent protective system, it did not significantly mediate the relationship between maternal containment and child depression. Conclusion: Maternal containment and paternal involvement operate as distinct, parallel family systems that contribute to early childhood emotional development. Interventions should address both the maternal containment function and the independent protective resource of father involvement.

Bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptomatology and parenting: moderating effects of breastfeeding and partner support

Postpartum depression and parenting both play a role in shaping children’s future behavior. However, there is limited understanding of the interaction and the evolving relationship between depressive symptoms and parenting practices. This study aimed to investigate the bidirectional associations between maternal depressive symptomatology and parenting (maternal self-efficacy, maternal warmth, and maternal hostile-reactive behaviors) in the postpartum period and to assess the moderating effect of breastfeeding and partner support on these associations. Latent growth curve and multigroup analyses were estimated in a sample of 1551 mothers of the 3D pregnancy cohort. Maternal depressive symptomatology and parenting practices were concurrently associated. Bidirectional associations were found between maternal depressive symptomatology and maternal self-efficacy, but not for warmth or hostile-reactive behaviors. Mothers with high perceived partner support showed a significant association between increased maternal warmth and lower depressive symptoms at 24 months. In contrast, mothers with lower perceived partner support demonstrated stronger associations between early hostile-reactive parenting and later depressive symptoms, as well as a greater impact of declining self-efficacy on maternal depressive symptoms. Breastfeeding showed limited moderating effects, with no significant buffering impact on the associations between depressive symptoms and parenting practices. These findings highlight the protective role of partner support in mitigating the adverse effects of depressive symptoms on parenting and vice versa, emphasizing the need for interventions that strengthen maternal self-efficacy and partner involvement to promote maternal mental health.

The impact of parent-child relationship on adolescent social adjustment following childhood abuse: the moderation of the serotonergic multilocus genetic variation

Introduction Childhood adverse experiences appear to increase sensitivity to stress, potentially influencing lifelong social adjustment. Previous studies suggest that serotonergic multilocus genetic variation moderates the relationship between environmental factors and social adjustment. Methods This study investigated an adolescent sample (mean age 14.15 ± 0.63 years; N = 700), using theory-driven multilocus genetic profile scores (MGPS) to measure serotonergic multilocus genetic variation. Leveraging longitudinal data, we examined the interactions between serotonergic MGPS, childhood abuse (CA), and parent-child relationship and their impact on three adolescent adjustment outcomes: depressive symptoms, aggressive behavior, and creativity. Results The findings revealed significant gene × environment × environment (G × E × E) interactions among serotonergic MGPS, CA, and parent-child relationship that predicted depressive symptoms in the mother-child model and aggressive behavior in both father-child and mother-child models. In contrast, creativity was predicted by a significant gene × environment (G × E) interaction between serotonergic MGPS and parent-child relationship, whereas no significant G × E × E interaction was found. Conclusions This study highlights that adolescent social adjustment may reflect the interplay of genetic factors (serotonergic MGPS), distal experiences (CA), and proximal environmental influences (parent-child relationship), providing new insights into the mechanisms underlying adolescent social adjustment through the lens of gene-environment interactions.

Reciprocal relations between parent-adolescent closeness and adolescent depressive symptoms across the pre-to-post COVID-19 pandemic.

This study examined gender-specific, process-oriented associations between parent-adolescent closeness and adolescent depressive symptoms using three-wave data from the China Family Panel Study (2018: pre-pandemic; 2020: pandemic outbreak; 2022: post-pandemic). Participants included 841 girls (Mage = 14.99 years in 2018, SD = 2.04, 87.2% Han ethnicity) and 939 boys (Mage = 14.89 years, SD = 1.99, 87.1% Han ethnicity). Bivariate latent change score models revealed that lower closeness consistently predicted subsequent greater increases in depression, regardless of the gender of parent or adolescent. However, prior higher adolescent depression predicted greater decreases in closeness only in the father-son relationship. Some of these effects were moderated by developmental age. These findings highlight the enduring protective effect of closeness and suggest a unique vulnerability in father-son relationships when boys experience depression across the pandemic period.