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Maternal symptoms of depression and sensitivity mediate the relation between maternal history of early adversity and her child temperament: The inheritance of circumstance

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 June 2019

Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot ,
Alison S. Fleming ,
Eva Unternaehrer ,
Andrea Gonzalez ,
Leslie Atkinson ,
Hélène Gaudreau ,
Meir Steiner  and
Michael J. Meaney
Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot*
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada Department of Psychiatry, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Alison S. Fleming
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Toronto at Mississauga, Mississauga, Canada Institute for Human Development, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
Eva Unternaehrer
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Andrea Gonzalez
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, Offord Centre for Child Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Leslie Atkinson
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada
Hélène Gaudreau
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Meir Steiner
Affiliation:
St. Joseph's Hospital and Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada
Michael J. Meaney
Affiliation:
Sackler Program for Epigenetics & Psychobiology at McGill University, Montreal, Canada Ludmer Centre for Neuroinformatics & Mental Health, Montreal, Canada Douglas Mental Health University Institute of McGill University, Montreal, Canada Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences, Singapore
*
Author for Correspondence: Andrée-Anne Bouvette-Turcot, Douglas Mental Health University Institute, McGill University, 6875 Blvd. LaSalle, Montréal, Québec, CanadaH4H 1R3; E-mail: [email protected].
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Abstract

We examined maternal depression and maternal sensitivity as mediators of the association between maternal childhood adversity and her child's temperament in 239 mother–child dyads from a longitudinal, birth cohort study. We used an integrated measure of maternal childhood adversity that included the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and the Parental Bonding Index. Maternal depression was assessed with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale at 6 months postpartum. Maternal sensitivity was assessed with the Ainsworth maternal sensitivity scales at 6 months. A measure of “negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation” was derived from the Early Childhood Behaviour Questionnaire administered at 36 months. Bootstrapping-based mediation analyses revealed that maternal depression mediated the effect of maternal childhood adversity on offspring negative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation (95% confidence interval [0.026, 0.144]). We also found a serial, indirect effect of maternal childhood adversity on child negative emotionality/behavioral mediated first by maternal depression and then by maternal sensitivity (95% confidence interval [0.031, 0.156]). Results suggest the intergenerational transmission of the effects of maternal childhood adversity to the offspring occurs through a two-step, serial pathway, involving maternal depression and maternal sensitivity.

Keywords

intergenerational risk transmissionmaternal adversitymaternal depressionmaternal sensitivitynegative emotionality/behavioral dysregulation
Type
Regular Articles
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , May 2020 , pp. 605 - 613
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

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