Remission of Maternal Depression: Relations to Family Functioning and Youth Internalizing and Externalizing Symptoms

Abstract

Family functioning and parenting were hypothesized to mediate the relation between remission of maternal depression and children's psychosocial adjustment. Participants were 114 mother–child dyads participating in the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression Child 3-month follow-up. All mothers had been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and were treated initially with citalopram; 33% of mothers experienced remission of depressive symptoms. Youth ranged in age from 7 to 17. Remission of maternal depression was associated with changes in children's reports of their mothers' warmth/acceptance, which in turn partially mediated the relation between maternal depression remission and youth internalizing symptoms, accounting for 22.9% of the variance.