Aaron Rakow, Rex Forehand, Laura G. McKee and Lorinda Roberts The University of Vermont

1. The Association of Parental Depressive Symptoms with Child Internalizing Problems: The Role of Parental Guilt Induction Aaron Rakow, Rex Forehand, Laura G. McKee and Lorinda Roberts The University of Vermont Jennifer E. Champion, Kelly Haker, Emily Hardcastle, Jennifer Potts and Bruce E. Compas Vanderbilt University Objective Analyses To examine the role of parental guilt induction in the association between parent depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems in a sample of parents with a history of major depressive disorder. • Because multiple children from the same family were included in the data analyses, a two-level Linear Mixed Models Analysis (LMM) in SPSS was used. • Linear Mixed Models Analysis estimates the parameters of the model on two levels: • Level 1 represents observations at the individual level including child internalizing problems and parental guilt induction. • Level 2 denotes clusters of units within the dataset, such as parental depressive symptoms, that maintain a constant relationship across all children within the same family. Introduction • Parenting behaviors focused on psychological control are related to internalizing problems (Barber & Harmon, 2002). • Within the construct of psychological control, the sub-component of parental guilt induction, when used with high frequency and/or intensity, has been associated with internalizing problems in children (Donatelli, Bybee, & Buka, 2007; Rakow et al., 2009). • This association is particularly relevant within the context of parental depression because depressed parents may lack the adaptive parenting skills to effectively manage the behavior of their children (Lovejoy et al., 2000). • Explication of the interaction revealed that high levels of parental guilt induction exacerbated the relation between parental depressive symptoms and child internalizing problems (see Figure 2). The combination of high levels of both guilt induction and parental depressive symptoms was associated with the highest level of internalizing problems. Results • Higher levels of parental depressive symptoms were related to higher levels of parental guilt induction ( = .14, p < .05). • Higher levels of parental guilt induction were associated with more child internalizing problems ( = .46, p < .01). • Higher levels of parental depressive symptoms were associated with more child internalizing problems ( = .13, p < .05). • Parental depressive symptoms, considered in the context of control variables and parental guilt induction, were no longer significantly associated with child internalizing problems ( = .06, p = .18). References Sample • Barber, B. K., & Harmon, E. L. (2002). Violating the self: Parental psychological control of children and adolescents. In B. K. Barber (Ed.), Intrusive parenting. How psychological control affects children and adolescents (pp. 15-52). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. • Beck, A. T., Steer, R. A., & Brown, G. K.  (1996). Beck Depression Inventory—Second Edition Manual. San Antonio: The Psychological Corporation. • Donatelli, J. L., Bybee, J. A., & Buka, S. L. (2007). What do mothers make adolescents feel guilty about? Incidents, reactions, and relation to depression. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 16, 859-875. • First, M. B., Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M., & Williams, J. B. W. (2002). Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders, Research Version, Patient Edition (SCID-I). New York: Biometrics Research, New York State Psychiatric Institute. • Kaufman, J., Birmaher, B., Brent, D., Rao, U., Flynn, C., Moreci, P., et al. (1997) Schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia for school-age children-present and lifetime version (K-SADS-PL): Initial reliability and validity data. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 980-988. • Lovejoy, M. C., Graczyk, P. A., O’Hare, E., & Neuman, G. (2000). Maternal depression and parenting behavior: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 20, 561-592. • Melby, J. N., & Conger, R. D. (2001). The Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales: Instrument summary. In P. K., Kerig & K. M. Lindahl (Eds.), Family observational coding systems: Resources for systemic research (pp. 33-58). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers. • Rakow, A., Forehand, R., McKee, L., Coffelt, N., Champion, J., Fear, J., & Compas, B. E. (2009). The relation of parental guilt induction to child internalizing problems when a caregiver has a history of depression. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 18, 367-377. 102 families with 129 children (66 males; Mage = 11.42 years) were studied. At least 1 parent within each family had a history of depression during the lifetime of the child. All children ages 9-15 were eligible to participate. Measures • The SCID-I (First, Spitzer, Gibbon, & Williams, 2002) was used to screen parents for a history of MDD during the target child’s lifetime. • The k-SADS-PL (Kaufman et al., 1997) was used to screen children for presence or absence of psychopathology. • The Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd edition (BDI-II; Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996), was used to assess current levels of parental depressive symptoms.  • The Maladaptive Guilt Inventory (MGI) (Donatelli et al., 2007) is a 22-item child-completed questionnaire that assesses parental guilt induction. • Observations of parental guilt induction were assessed by the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scale (IFIRS; Melby & Conger, 2001).