Abstract
Children growing up in disharmonious families with anxious/depressed mothers are at risk for emotional and behavioral difficulties,
however whether these associations reflect postnatal environment, prenatal exposure, or an overall liability is still unclear.
This study used prospectively collected data from 24,259 participants of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
Mothers reported on anxiety/depression and family disharmony twice in pregnancy and twice post pregnancy, as well as on their
child’s physical aggression and crying behavior at age 36 months. First, results from an autoregressive cross-lagged model
showed a substantial stability in both maternal anxiety/depression and family disharmony from pregnancy to 18 months postnatal,
but there was no indication that family disharmony led to maternal anxiety/depression, or the other way around. Second, structural
equation models further suggests that the main risk derived from an overall liability, that is, a lasting effect of family
risks that spanned the two time periods.
however whether these associations reflect postnatal environment, prenatal exposure, or an overall liability is still unclear.
This study used prospectively collected data from 24,259 participants of the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa).
Mothers reported on anxiety/depression and family disharmony twice in pregnancy and twice post pregnancy, as well as on their
child’s physical aggression and crying behavior at age 36 months. First, results from an autoregressive cross-lagged model
showed a substantial stability in both maternal anxiety/depression and family disharmony from pregnancy to 18 months postnatal,
but there was no indication that family disharmony led to maternal anxiety/depression, or the other way around. Second, structural
equation models further suggests that the main risk derived from an overall liability, that is, a lasting effect of family
risks that spanned the two time periods.
- Content Type Journal Article
- DOI 10.1007/s10802-010-9477-z
- Authors
- Mona Bekkhus, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway
- Michael Rutter, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, London, UK
- Edward D. Barker, Department of Psychological Sciences, Birkbeck College, University of London, London, UK
- Anne I. H. Borge, Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1094 Blindern, 0317 Oslo, Norway
- Journal Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
- Online ISSN 1573-2835
- Print ISSN 0091-0627