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Exploring the link between maternal symptom constellations and offspring’s psychopathological risk: insights from the p factor model

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Abstract

Background: Recent research has introduced the concept of a unifying dimension, known as the “p factor,“ which encompasses various comorbid disorders and consists of lower-order factors including Internalizing, Externalizing, and Thought Disorder dimensions. Method: This study examined clusters of psychopathological symptoms in mothers and their children’s psychopathological risk, exploring potential associations between these clusters. The sample consisted of mothers with 5-year-old children, and self- and report-form measures were used to assess psychopathology. Results: The results revealed that the Internalizing cluster was the most prevalent among mothers, with the majority falling into the Mild risk category. Significant associations were found between clusters of mothers’ psychological profiles and clusters of children’s symptoms, indicating that mothers with Thought Disorders were more likely to have children at high psychopathological risk. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of considering a constellation of symptoms rather than focusing on a specific disorder in understanding the transmission of psychopathological risk from mothers to offspring, thus informing clinical interventions.

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Acknowledgements

the authors thank all the mothers and children who took part in the research.

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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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  1. Sapienza, Department of Dynamic, Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Rome, Via degli Apuli, 1, Rome, 00186, Italy

    Silvia Cimino

  2. Faculty of Psychology, International Telematic university Uninettuno, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, 39, Rome, 00186, Italy

    Luca Cerniglia

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Conceptualization: SC and LC; Data curation: LC; Formal analysis: LC; Methodology: SC and LC; Supervision: LC; Writing - original draft: SC; Writing - review & editing: LC. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Luca Cerniglia.

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Cimino, S., Cerniglia, L. Exploring the link between maternal symptom constellations and offspring’s psychopathological risk: insights from the p factor model. Curr Psychol 43, 12579–12585 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-023-05394-3

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