Trajectories of Mother-Child and Father-Child Relationships Across Middle Childhood and Associations with Depressive Symptoms
Document Type
Article
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Development and Psychopathology
Volume
31
Issue
4
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Publication Date
10-1-2019
First Page
1381
Last Page
1393
Abstract
Using a family systems perspective, we examined the trajectories of father-child and mother-child closeness and conflict across Grades 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, and their associations with child depressive symptoms across middle childhood among 685 families in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Father-child and mother-child relationship conflict increased, whereas relationship closeness decreased from Grades 1 to 6. Girls with more slowly increasing father-child conflict, and more slowly decreasing father-child closeness, were at lower risk for depressive symptoms. Boys with more slowly increasing mother-child conflict were at lower risk for depressive symptoms. These findings highlight the important roles of both father-child and mother-child relationships in children's emotional adjustment during middle childhood.
Recommended Citation
Yan, J., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., & Feng, X. (2019). Trajectories of mother-child and father-child relationships across middle childhood and associations with depressive symptoms. Development and Psychopathology, 31, 1381–1393. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579418000809
