Are Variations in the Course, Severity, and Timing of Maternal Depressive Symptoms Associated with Growth in Children's Executive Functions?

Background/Purpose:  Considerable research has demonstrated that parental depressive symptoms are associated with risk for child depression, aggression, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (Goodman & Gottlieb, 1999), yet, few studies have examined links with key features of these outcomes – namely, executive functions such as inattention, impulsivity, and planning (Nigg, 2017). Moreover, given that parental depressive symptoms have considerable variation in chronicity, severity and timing, theoretical models have underscored the importance of examining these moderators of maternal depressive symptoms and child outcomes as differences in the course of maternal depressive symptoms may accentuate or ameliorate potential risk for poor child outcomes (Goodman & Gottlieb, 1999). To our knowledge, however, no studies have examined this with respect to variations in the development of children’s executive functions. Therefore, to address this gap, we examine whether variations in the course of maternal depressive symptoms are associated with distinct patterns of development in executive functions- namely, planning, inattention, and impulsivity.

Method:  We used data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (n=828). Maternal depression was measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977) and executive functions were measured with state-of-the-art behavioral assessments. 

Results:  We conducted group-based trajectory modeling to examine person-centered developmental trajectories in maternal depressive symptoms from 1-month to 3rd grade and children’s executive functions from 54-months to 5th grade. We identified 5 maternal depressive symptoms trajectories (BIC= -20717.76: low-stable 33.7%; moderate-stable 41.6%; high-decreasing 9.7%; moderate-increasing 10.7%; high-chronic 4.3%), (2) 3 planning trajectories (BIC= -7667.8: low-growth 26.2%; moderate-steady-growth 63.3%; high-increasing 10.5%), (3) 3 inattention trajectories (BIC= -6439.31; low-stable 71.9%; high-stable 4.14%), and (4) 2 impulsivity trajectories (BIC=-8504.09: low-stable 95.8%; high-decreasing 6.22%).

Multinomial logistic regression was used to predict the developmental trajectories of children’s executive functions based on the course of maternal depressive symptoms from infancy through middle childhood. Compared to children of mothers with low-stable symptoms and had steady growth in planning from 1st -to 5th grade, the relative risk of children of mothers with increased depressive symptoms having slow growth in planning abilities from 1st-to 5th grade would be expected to increase by 2.33, p < .01, 95% CI[1.33, 4.08]. Moreover, compared to children with mothers with low-stable symptoms and low-stable inattention problems from 54-months to 4th grade, the relative risk of children with mothers with high-decreasing depressive symptoms from 1-month to 3rd grade of having significant reductions in inattention from 54-months to 3rd grade would be expected to increase by 1.98, p <.05, 95% CI[1.04, 3.75]. No associations were observed between the course of maternal depressive symptoms and impulsivity.

Conclusions/Implications:  Our findings underscore the importance of attending to differences in the chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms in relation to children’s developing executive functions. Evidence for co-occurring increases and decreases in maternal depressive symptoms and children’s executive functions over time, suggests that research is needed to examine reciprocal relations and test whether reducing maternal depressive symptoms facilitates growth in children’s executive function and visa versa. This may have important implications for social work intervention.