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Early Exposure to Parental Depression and Parenting: Associations with Young Offspring’s Stress Physiology and Oppositional Behavior

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Abstract

Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis reactivity to stress is posited to play a role in the intergenerational transmission of risk for psychopathology and other negative outcomes in the offspring of depressed parents. We tested the hypothesis that the joint, interactive effects of exposure to parental depression during early childhood and parental hostility impact the development of young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems. A sample of 165 preschool-age children (81 boys, 84 girls), of whom 103 had a parent with a history of depression, was exposed to a stress-inducing laboratory task, and five salivary cortisol samples were obtained. Parents completed clinical interviews and an observational parent–child interaction task. We found that the offspring exposed to maternal depression during early childhood and whose parents displayed hostile parenting behaviors during an observational task evidenced high and increasing cortisol levels in response to a laboratory stressor. In addition, the total amount of exposure to maternal depression over the child’s life exerted a dose–response effect on the positive relation between parental hostility and child observed oppositional behavior. This study underscores the importance of the early rearing environment on young children’s stress physiology and early emerging behavior problems.

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Notes

  1. Stability of the proportion of months the child was exposed to paternal depression during the child’s life is not reported, as few fathers (N = 15) experienced depression during the child’s life.

  2. AUC i was associated at a trend level with the time of the laboratory visit (r = 0.14, p = 0.08) and children’s difficulty sleeping the night before (r = −0.15, p = 0.07). Results were similar when these variables were included as covariates.

  3. This interaction effect remained significant even controlling for child oppositional behavior (pr = 0.20, p = 0.02).

  4. Similar to observations of child oppositionality, the interaction between total amount of exposure to maternal depression and parental hostility was significantly associated with the parent-reported Child Behavior Checklist/1.5-5 (Achenbach and Rescorla 2000) oppositional defiant problems DSM scale (pr = 0.15, p = 0.049).

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the University of Maryland (UMD) College of Behavioral and Social Sciences Dean’s Research Initiative Award (LRD) and the UMD Research and Scholars Award (LRD). We are indebted to the families and staff who made this study possible. We are especially grateful to Caitlin Condit for all her efforts in recruiting families and running participants.

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Authors report no conflicts of interest.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, MD, 20742, USA

    Lea R. Dougherty, Marissa R. Tolep, Victoria C. Smith & Suzanne Rose

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  1. Lea R. Dougherty
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  2. Marissa R. Tolep
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Correspondence to Lea R. Dougherty.

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Dougherty, L.R., Tolep, M.R., Smith, V.C. et al. Early Exposure to Parental Depression and Parenting: Associations with Young Offspring’s Stress Physiology and Oppositional Behavior. J Abnorm Child Psychol 41, 1299–1310 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-013-9763-7

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