Depression, partnership, social support, and parenting: interaction of maternal factors with behavioral problems of the child

Background: Children of depressed mothers are at elevated risk to develop behavioral problems. Besides maternal depression, other risk factors like interpersonal functioning, are discussed. The object of this study was to investigate the predictive value of the maternal variables depression, partnership, social support, and parenting for internal and external behavioral problems of the children. Methods: A total of 100 mothers and their children who participated in a German mother-child rehabilitation program were interviewed by questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was conducted in order to determine the predictive value of the mentioned maternal variables on behavioral problems of the children. Results: Behavioral problems of the children can be predicted by the parenting and the partnership of the mothers. Mothers with more parenting difficulties and with less containment with partnership report more behavioral problems of their children. Depression and social support do indirectly predict the child's problems. Limitations: The data is from a cross-sectional sample. Therefore, path models do not demonstrate causation. All information is based upon maternal report. Conclusions: These findings suggest the need for intervention programs which focus on the parenting and the partnership of the mothers. More research with independent assessment is needed. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.