Parent and child mental health are strongly associated and this association may be transmitted via disruption to the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in children. This study examined the potential mediating role of hair cortisol concentration (HCC) in the association between parent psychopathology and child mental disorder. Data come from 100 children diagnosed with a mental disorder [major depression (66 %), generalized anxiety (58 %), attention-deficit hyperactivity (33 %), oppositional defiant (35 %)] and their parents. Parent psychopathology was measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. Child mental disorder was measured using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview and hair samples were assayed using high-sensitivity ELISA for cortisol extraction. Sex-specific path models were specified to estimate mediating effects (αβ). Children were, on average, 14.4 (SD 2.3) years of age and 70 % were girls. Adjusting for child age, parent sex, and family income, HCC mediated the association between symptoms of parent psychopathology and major depression and attention-deficit hyperactivity in all children (αβ ranging -0.07 to 0.19; 38-46 % effect mediated). Mediating effects for generalized anxiety and opposition defiant were evident for boys only (αβ ranging -0.26 to 0.14; 31-38 % effect mediated). Evidence suggests HCC partially mediates the association between parent psychopathology and child mental disorder, and for generalized anxiety and oppositional defiant, this effect is specific to boys. Family inventions to reduce child stress may be effective in buffering the consequences of parent psychopathology. Further research that considers sex effects is needed to clarify how HCC conditions risk for mental disorder in children.

中文翻译：

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头发皮质醇浓度介导父母和儿童精神病理学之间的关联

父母和孩子的心理健康密切相关，这种关联可能通过儿童下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴的破坏而传播。这项研究检查了头发皮质醇浓度 (HCC) 在父母精神病理学和儿童精神障碍之间的关联中的潜在中介作用。数据来自 100 名被诊断患有精神障碍 [重度抑郁 (66 %)、广泛性焦虑 (58 %)、注意力缺陷多动 (33 %)、对立挑衅 (35 %)] 的儿童及其父母。使用流行病学研究中心抑郁量表和状态-特质焦虑量表测量父母的精神病理学。使用 Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 测量儿童精神障碍，并使用高灵敏度 ELISA 分析头发样本以提取皮质醇。指定了性别特定的路径模型来估计中介效应 (αβ)。儿童平均年龄为 14.4 (SD 2.3) 岁，70% 是女孩。调整儿童年龄、父母性别和家庭收入后，HCC 介导了所有儿童的父母精神病理学症状与重度抑郁症和注意力缺陷多动症之间的关联（αβ 范围为 -0.07 至 0.19；介导的效应为 38-46%）。广泛性焦虑和反对违抗的中介效应仅对男孩明显（αβ 范围为 -0.26 至 0.14；31-38% 的效应介导）。有证据表明 HCC 部分地调节了父母精神病理学和儿童精神障碍之间的关联，对于广泛性焦虑和对立挑衅，这种影响是男孩特有的。减轻儿童压力的家庭发明可能有效缓冲父母精神病理学的后果。需要进一步考虑性别影响的研究，以阐明 HCC 如何导致儿童精神障碍的风险。