Caregiver mental health has a powerful influence on child well‐being. Both maternal depression and paternal depression predict behaviour problems in young children. However, little is known about the nature of this link over time. The present study leveraged a large sample of at‐risk families to examine the impact of maternal and paternal depression on trajectories of child behaviour from age 3 to 15. Data came from the At‐Home substudy of the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study, which observed a cohort of children born 1998–2000 in 20 large American cities (N = 1,090). Multiple imputation by chained equations addressed missing data to maximize available information without biasing models. Linear mixed effects models tested the association between caregiver depression and child behaviour over 12 years; interaction models tested whether this association changed as children transitioned into adolescence. Results showed caregiver depression is related with increases in both child internalizing and externalizing problems, and these relationships strengthened over time. Findings inform risk trajectories of distinct behavioural problems, shedding light on the development of child psychopathology and highlighting opportunities for intervention.

中文翻译：

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保姆抑郁和儿童行为问题：纵向混合效应方法

照顾者的心理健康对孩子的幸福感有很大的影响。母性抑郁和父性抑郁都可以预测幼儿的行为问题。但是，随着时间的流逝，人们对该链接的性质了解甚少。本研究利用大量高风险家庭样本研究了母亲和父亲抑郁对3至15岁儿童行为轨迹的影响。数据来自脆弱家庭和儿童幸福感研究的在家子研究，该研究观察了1998年至2000年在美国20个大城市出生的儿童（N= 1,090）。链式方程的多次插补解决了缺失的数据，从而在不影响模型的情况下最大化了可用信息。线性混合效应模型测试了12年来照顾者抑郁与儿童行为之间的关联；互动模型测试了这种关联是否随着儿童过渡到青春期而改变。结果表明，照顾者的抑郁与儿童内在化和外在化问题的增加有关，并且这些关系随着时间的推移而加强。研究发现为不同行为问题的风险轨迹提供了信息，阐明了儿童心理病理学的发展，并强调了干预的机会。