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We conducted cross-lagged panel models to examine reciprocal relations between parent and child depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors across development in a community sample of 599 youths (89.1% White, 7.7% Black/African American, 2.3% Asian, 0.7% multiracial/other; 65.3% had at least one parent with a 4-year college degree). Mothers and fathers completed self-report measures about their own depressive symptoms and authoritarian-parenting behaviors during the years their children were 3 to 15 years old. Child depressive symptoms were assessed with a developmentally appropriate semistructured clinical interview at all time points. Results demonstrated reciprocal pathways between maternal and child depressive symptoms from ages 3 to 15 years serial mediators. Moreover, although child depressive symptoms at age 3 years led to greater maternal and paternal negative authoritarian parenting from ages 3 to 15 years, these effects were not reciprocal. Pathways between paternal and child depressive symptoms were not observed. Our findings highlight the importance of examining reciprocal pathways to identify mechanisms in the development of depression within families.

Irritability is increasingly recognized as a significant clinical problem in youth. It is a criterion for multiple diagnoses and predicts the development of a wide range of disorders. Research on its etiology suggests that genetic and family environmental factors play a role, as do abnormalities in reward and cognitive-control neural circuitry. However, many of these effects are age dependent. Threat-responsive self-regulatory systems and the degree to which irritability is tonic or phasic influence whether irritable youth exhibit more internalizing or more externalizing outcomes.

Objective: Separate literatures have examined the associations between maternal ADHD symptoms and parenting and maternal emotion regulation (ER) and parenting. This study examined the effects of both maternal ADHD symptoms and ER on parenting. Method: This cross-sectional study used a multi-method evaluation of parenting behavior to examine the independent and interactive effects of maternal ADHD symptoms and ER on self-reported and observed parenting among 79 demographically diverse families of 5- to 10-year-old children. Results: There were significant main effects of maternal ER difficulties on negative parenting and of maternal ADHD symptoms on harsh responses to children’s negative emotions. Maternal ADHD symptoms and ER were not significantly associated with positive parenting behavior. No interaction effects were observed. Conclusion: Maternal ADHD symptoms and emotion dysregulation may uniquely contribute to parenting difficulties. Maternal ADHD symptoms were associated with difficulties responding to children’s negative emotions, whereas maternal ER was associated with difficulties with discipline practices.