The gendered relationship between maternal depression and adolescent internalizing symptoms

Area of Science:

• Psychiatry
• Developmental Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Maternal depression is a known risk factor for adolescent internalizing symptoms.
• Internalizing symptoms are more common in adolescent girls than boys.
• The gender-specific impact of maternal depression on adolescent mental health remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if adolescent gender moderates the association between maternal depression and adolescent internalizing symptoms.
• To determine if maternal depression contributes to or mitigates gender differences in adolescent internalizing symptoms.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from the Year-15 survey of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study.
• Inclusion of 2159 mother-adolescent dyads (adolescents aged 14-18 years).
• Use of adjusted ordinary least squares regression models to assess the relationship, controlling for social risk factors.

Main Results:

• Maternal depression was significantly associated with increased adolescent depressive and anxiety symptoms.
• The association between maternal depression and adolescent internalizing symptoms was significantly stronger for daughters than for sons.
• A notable clustering of internalizing symptoms was observed between mothers and daughters.

Conclusions:

• Adolescent gender significantly moderates the impact of maternal depression on internalizing symptoms.
• Maternal depression exacerbates gender disparities in adolescent internalizing symptoms, with daughters being more affected.
• Interventions addressing adult and adolescent mental health concurrently are crucial, especially for mother-daughter dyads.