Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of Maternal Depression Symptoms and Alcohol Use Problems on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Child and Family Studies Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests maternal behavioral health problems are significant predictors of child behavioral health difficulties, but it is unclear of the specific relation of maternal alcohol use problems and depression symptoms with child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. The purpose of the study is to examine the impact of maternal depression symptoms and alcohol use problems on children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems over a period of 5 years. Implications for intervention may differ depending on which type of maternal behavioral health concerns predicts which child behavior problem. A total of 1874 families eligible for Early Head Start participated. Maternal depression symptoms and alcohol use problems were assessed when children were in preschool, and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were assessed when children were in fifth grade. Clinical internalizing behavior problems was best predicted by maternal depression symptoms, whereas clinical externalizing behavior problems was best predicted by maternal alcohol use problems. Children were almost twice as likely to have clinical internalizing behavior problems when mothers exhibited very elevated depression symptoms compared to when mothers displayed minimal symptoms. A similar relation was found with maternal alcohol use problems and clinical externalizing behavior problems. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding and treating various kinds of behavioral health concerns in mothers of young children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Integrative guide for the 1991 CBCL/4-18, YSR, and TRF profiles. Burlington: Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont.

    Google Scholar 

  • Achenbach, T. M. (2009). ). The Achenbach system of empirically based assessment (ASEBA): Developmental, findings, theory, and applications. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont Research Center for Children, Youth, & Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Achenbach, T. M., & Rescorla, L. A. (2000). Manual of ASEBA preschool forms and profiles. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Research Center for Children, Youth, and Families.

    Google Scholar 

  • Administration for Children & Families. (2002a). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of early head start. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Administration for Children & Families. (2002b). Making a difference in the lives of infants and toddlers and their families: The impacts of early head start volume II: Final technical report appendixes. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Administration for Children & Families. (2006). Head start performance measures center, family and child experiences survey (FACES 2000): Technical report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agnafors, S., Comasco, E., Bladh, M., Sydsjö, G., Dekeyser, L., Oreland, L., & Svedin, C. (2013). Effect of gene, environment and maternal depressive symptoms on pre-adolescence behavior problems - a longitudinal study. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health, 7(1), 1–9. doi:10.1186/1753-2000-7-10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bagner, D. M., Petit, J. W., Lewinsohn, P. M., & Seeley, J. R. (2010). Effect of maternal depression on child behavior: A sensitive period? Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 49(7), 699–707. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2010.03.012.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Boller, K., Bradley, R., Cabrera, N., Raikes, H., Pan, B., Shears, J., & Roggman, L. (2006). The early head start father studies: Design, data collection, and summary of father presence in the lives of infants and toddlers. Parenting: Science & Practice, 6(2), 117–143. doi:10.1080/15295192.2006.9681302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley, K. A., Boyd-Wickezer, J., Powell, S. H., & Burman, M. L. (1998). Alcohol screening questionnaires in women: A critical review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 280(2), 166–171. doi:10.1001/jama.280.2.166.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brennan, P. A., Hammen, C., Anderson, M. J., Bor, W., Najman, J. M., & Williams, G. M. (2000). Chronicity, severity, and timing of maternal depressive symptoms: Relationships with child outcomes at age 5. Developmental Psychology, 36(6), 759–766. doi: 10.1037//0012-1649.36.6.759.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Burstein, M., Stanger, C., Kamon, J., & Dumenci, L. (2006). Parent psychopathology, parenting, and child internalizing problems in substance-abusing families. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 20(2), 97–106. doi:10.1037/0893-164X.20.2.97.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chatterji, P., & Markowitz, S. (2001). The impact of maternal alcohol and illicit drug use on children’s behavior problems: Evidence from the children of the national longitudinal survey of youth. Journal of Health Economics, 20(5), 703–731. doi: 10.1016/S0167-6296(01)00090-X.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chazan-Cohen, R., Ayoub, C., Pan, B. A., Roggman, L., Raikes, L., McKelvey, L., & Hart, A. (2007). It takes time: Impacts of early head start that lead to reductions in maternal depression two years later. Infant Mental Health Journal, 28(2), 151–170. doi:10.1002/imhj.20127.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Christensen, H. B., & Bilenburg, N. (2000). Behavioural and emotional problems in children of alcoholic mothers and fathers. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 9(3), 219–226. doi:10.1007/s007870070046.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Civic, D., & Holt, V. L. (2000). Maternal depressive symptoms and child behavior problems in a nationally representative normal birth weight sample. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 4(4), 215–221.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, A. M., & Goodman, S. H. (2002). The association between psychopathology in fathers versus mothers and children’s internalizing and externalizing behavior problems: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 128(5), 746–773. doi: 0.1037//0033-2909.128.5.746.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Conners-Burrow, N. A., McKelvey, L., Pemberton, J. R., LaGory, J. C., Mesman, G. R., & Whiteside-Mansell, L. (2013). Moderators of the relationship between maternal substance abuse symptoms and preschool children’s behavioral outcomes. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 22(8), 1120–1129. doi: 10/1007/s10826-012-9674-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conners-Burrow, N. A., Swindle, T., McKelvey, L., & Bokony, P. (2015). A little bit of the blues: Low-level symptoms of maternal depression and classroom behavior problems in preschool children. Early Education & Development, 26(2), 230–244. doi:10.1080/10409289.2015.979725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dhalla, S., & Kopec, J. A. (2007). The CAGE questionnaire for alcohol misuse: A review of reliability and validity studies. Clinical & Investigative Medicine, 30(1), 33–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Onofrio, B. M., Van Hulle, C. A., Waldman, I. D., Rogers, J. L., Rathouz, P. J., & Lahey, B. B. (2007). Casual inferences regarding prenatal alcohol exposure and childhood externalizing problems. Archives of General Psychiatry, 64(11), 1296–1304. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.11.1296.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Easterbrooks, M. A., Kotake, C., Raskin, M., & Bumgarner, E. (2016). Patterns of depression among adolescent mothers: Resilience related to father support and home visiting program. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 86(1), 61–68. doi:10.1037/ort0000093.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ewing, J. A. (1984). Detecting alcoholism. Journal of the American Medical Association, 252(14), 1905–1907. doi:10.1001/jama.1984.03350140051025.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Faldowski, R. A., Chazan‐Cohen, R., Love, J. M., & Vogel, C. (2013). Design and methods in the early head start study. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 78(1), 20–35. doi:10.1111/j.1540-5834.2012.00701.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fals-Stewart, W., Kelley, M. L., Cooke, C. G., & Golden, J. C. (2003). Predictors of the psychosocial adjustment of children living in households of parents in which fathers abuse drugs: The effects of postnatal parental exposure. Addictive Behaviors, 28(6), 1013–1031. doi: 10.1016/S0306-4603(02)00235-6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fitzgerald, H. E., Sullivan, L. A., Ham, H. P., Zucker, R. A., Bruckel, S., Schneider, A. M., & Noll, R. B. (1993). Predictors of behavior problems in three-year-old sons of alcoholics: Early evidence for the onset of risk. Child Development, 64(1), 110–123. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.1993.tb02898.x.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Foley, D. L., Pickles, A., Simonoff, E., Maes, H. H., Silberg, J. L., Hewitt, J. K., & Eaves, L. J. (2001). Parental concordance and comorbidity for psychiatric disorder and associated risks for current psychiatric symptoms and disorders in a community sample of juvenile twins. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(3), 381–394. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00731.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S., & Gotlib, I. (1999). Risk for psychopathology in the children of depressed mothers: A developmental model for understanding the mechanisms of transmission. Psychological Review, 106, 458–490. doi: /10.1037/0033-295x.106.3.458.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, S. H., Rouse, M. H., Connell, A. M., Broth, M. R., Hall, C. M., & Heyward, D. (2011). Maternal depression and child psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Child & Family Psychology Review, 14(1), 1–27. doi:10.1007/s10567-010-0080-1.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hetlinger, C. A., Simpkins, C. G., & Combs-Orme, T. (2000). Using the CBCL to determine the clinical status of children in state custody. Children and Youth Services Review, 22(1), 55–73. doi: 10.1016/s0190-7409(99)00073-0.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, T. P., & Hughes, T. L. (2005). Reliability and concurrent validity of the CAGE screening questions: A comparison of lesbians and heterosexual women. Substance Use & Misuse, 40(5), 657–669. doi:10.1097/00004583-199606000-00012.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jones, A. S. (2007). Maternal alcohol abuse/dependence, children’s behavior problems, and home environment: Estimates from the national longitudinal survey of youth using propensity score matching. Journal of Studies on Alcohol & Drugs, 68(2), 266–275. doi:10.15288/jsad.2007.68.266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kendler, K. S., Gardner, C. O., Edwards, A., Hickman, M., Heron, J., Macleod, J., & Dick, D. M. (2013). Dimensions of parental alcohol use/problems and offspring temperament, externalizing behaviors, and alcohol use/problems. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 37(12), 2118–2127. doi:10.1111/acer.12196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Knitzer, J. (2000). Promoting resilience: Helping young children and parents affected by substance abuse, domestic violence, and depression in the context of welfare reform (Issue Brief 8). New York: National Center for Children in Poverty.

    Google Scholar 

  • Knudsen, A. K., Ystrom, E., Skogen, J. C., & Torgersen, L. (2015). Maternal heavy alcohol use and toddler behavior problems: A fixed effects regression analysis. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 24(10), 1–9. doi:10.1007/s00787-015-0677-5.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luthar, S. S., Cushing, G., Merikangas, K. R., & Rounsaville, B. J. (1998). Multiple jeopardy: Risk and protective factors among addicted mothers’ offspring. Development and Psychopathology, 10(1), 117 doi:10.1017/s0954579498001333.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Malone, S. M., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2010). Mothers’ maximum drinks ever consumed in 24 hours predicts mental health problems in adolescent offspring. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 51(9), 1067–1075. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2010.02219.x.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • McKelvey, L. M., Conners-Burrow, N. A., Pemberton, J. R., Mesman, G. R., Holmes, K. J., & Bradley, R. H. (2015). Buffering the negative effects of maternal alcohol problems on child behavior. Journal of Family Psychology, 29(4), 576–584. doi:10.1037/fam0000121.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, L., Woolgar, M., Cooper, P., & Hipwell, A. (2001). Cognitive vulnerability to depression in 5-year-old children of depressed mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 42(7), 891–899. doi:10.1111/1469-7610.00785.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Oyserman, D., Mowbray, C. T., Meares, P. A., & Firminger, K. B. (2000). Parenting among mothers with serious mental illness. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70(3), 296–315. doi:10.1037/h0087733.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Paley, B., O’Connor, M. J., Kogan, N., & Findlay, R. (2005). Prenatal alcohol exposure, child externalizing behavior, and maternal stress. Parenting: Science and Practice, 5(1), 29–56. doi:10.1207/s15327922par0501_2.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rognmo, K., Torvik, F. A., Ask, H., Røysamb, E., & Tambs, K. (2012). Paternal and maternal alcohol abuse and offspring mental distress in the general population: The Nord-Trøndelag health study. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 448 doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-448.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Ross, C. E., Mirowsky, J., & Huber, J. (1983). Dividing work, sharing work, and in-between: Marriage patterns and depression. American Sociological Review, 48(6), 809–823. doi:10.2307/2095327.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, P. F., Neale, M. C., & Kendler, K. S. (2000). Genetic epidemiology of major depression: Review and meta-analysis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(10), 1552–1562. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.157.10.1552.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Torvik, F. A., Rognmo, K., Ask, H., Røysamb, E., & Tambs, K. (2011). Parental alcohol use and adolescent school adjustment in the general population: Results from the HUNT study. BMC Public Health, 11, 706–716. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-11-706.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Van De Mark, N. R., Russell, L. A., O’Keefe, M., Finkelstein, N., Noether, C. D., & Gampel, J. C. (2005). Children of mothers with histories of substance abuse, mental illness, and trauma. Journal of Community Psychology, 33(4), 445–459. doi:10.1002/jcop.20062.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Whitaker, R. C., Orzol, S. M., & Kahn, R. S. (2006). Maternal mental health, substance use, and domestic violence in the year after delivery and subsequent behavior problems in children at age 3 years. Archives of General Psychiatry, 63(5), 551–560. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.63.5.551.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author Contributions

G.M.: wrote the majority of the introduction and discussion, assisted with writing the method and results, edited all manuscript revisions, and was responsible for the manuscript submission process. N.E.: assisted in the design and execution of the study, analyzed the data, assisted in writing the method and results. L.M.: assisted in the design and execution of the study, assisted in writing the method and results. J.P.: assisted in writing the introduction. K.H.: assisted in writing the introduction.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 11 Children’s Way, Slot 654, Little Rock, 72211, AR, USA

    Glenn R. Mesman, Joy L. Pemberton & Khiela J. Holmes

  2. Department of Family and Preventative Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA

    Nicola A. Edge & Lorraine M. McKelvey

Authors
  1. Glenn R. Mesman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Nicola A. Edge
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lorraine M. McKelvey
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Joy L. Pemberton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Khiela J. Holmes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Glenn R. Mesman.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Mesman, G.R., Edge, N.A., McKelvey, L.M. et al. Effects of Maternal Depression Symptoms and Alcohol Use Problems on Child Internalizing and Externalizing Behavior Problems. J Child Fam Stud 26, 2485–2494 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0748-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0748-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation