Maternal and paternal depression and child mental health trajectories: evidence from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children.

BACKGROUND: The relationships between offspring depression profiles across adolescence and different timings of parental depression during the perinatal period remain unknown. AIMS: To explore different timings of maternal and paternal perinatal depression in relation to patterns of change in offspring depressive mood over a 14 year period. METHOD: Data were obtained from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Parental antenatal depression (ANTD) was assessed at 18 weeks gestation, and postnatal depression (PNTD) at 8 weeks postpartum. Population-averaged trajectories of offspring depressive symptoms were estimated using the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) on nine occasions between 10 and 24 years of age. RESULTS: Full data were available for 5029 individuals. Offspring exposed to both timings of maternal depression had higher depressive symptoms across adolescence compared with offspring not exposed to ANTD or PNTD, characterised by higher depressive symptoms at age 16 (7.07 SMFQ points (95% CI = 6.19, 7.95; P < 0.001)) and a greater rate of linear change (0.698 SMFQ points (95% CI = 0.47, 0.93; P = 0.002)). Isolated maternal ANTD and to a lesser extent PNTD were also both associated with higher depressive symptoms at age 16, yet isolated maternal PNTD showed greater evidence for an increased rate of linear change across adolescence. A similar pattern was observed for paternal ANTD and PNTD, although effect sizes were attenuated. CONCLUSIONS: This study adds to the literature demonstrating that exposure to two timings of maternal depression (ANTD and PNTD) is strongly associated with greater offspring trajectories of depressive symptoms.

Specific domains of early parenting, their heritability and differential association with adolescent behavioural and emotional disorders and academic achievement.

Variations in parenting across large populations have rarely been described. It also remains unclear which specific domains of parenting are important for which specific offspring developmental outcomes. This study describes different domains of early parenting behaviours and their genetic heritability, then determines the extent to which specific domains of parenting are associated with later offspring outcomes. Parenting behaviours (birth to 3 years) were extracted from self-reported questionnaires administered to 12,358 mothers from the UK-based birth cohort study, the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children and modelled as a latent factor using Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Genetic heritability and correlations between parenting factors were estimated using genome-wide complex trait analysis. Three parenting factors were derived: parental enjoyment, conflictual relationships and stimulation; all showed low genetic heritability. There was no evidence of association between parental enjoyment and offspring behavioural disorders and depressed mood. Stimulation was associated with better English grades (standardised ß = 0.195, p < 0.001) and enjoyment was negatively associated with English grades (ß = - 0.244, p = < 0.001). Conflictual relationships were associated with higher risk of offspring behavioural disorders (ß = 0.228, p = 0.010) and depressed mood (ß = 0.077, p = 0.005). Higher enjoyment reduced the association between conflict and behavioural problems (interaction term ß = 0.113, p < 0.001). We found evidence for predictive specificity of early parenting domains for offspring outcomes in adolescence. Early stimulation, unlike enjoyment, promoted later educational achievement. Conflictual relationships were associated with greater risk of behavioural problems, buffered by increased enjoyment. These findings hold implications for parenting interventions, guiding their focus according to the specificity of parenting domains and their long-term outcomes in children.

Disciplinary Parenting Practice and Child Mental Health: Evidence From the UK Millennium Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether a longitudinal association exists between differential disciplinary parenting practices at 3 years of age and later child psychopathology at 11 years. METHOD: Data were obtained from the Millennium Cohort Study, a UK-wide cohort. Discipline style was assessed using a validated maternal reported questionnaire at 3 years of age for which later outcome data were available. "Active" (including smacking, shouting, and telling off) and "withdrawal" (including ignoring, removal of privileges, and sending to bedroom) approaches were distinguished. Child emotional and behavioral problems were assessed at 3 and 11 years of age using the maternally completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The independence of associations between early discipline and later child mental health was investigated using mutually adjusted regression analyses and potential reverse causality was considered by looking at changes in SDQ subscale scores from 3 to 11 years. RESULTS: Differential associations with change in child psychopathology according to discipline type were observed. Active and withdrawal forms of discipline were associated with a decrease in conduct problems from 3 to 11 years (active, ß = -0.28, 95% CI -0.34 to -0.21, p < .001; withdrawal, ß = -0.19, 95% CI -0.24 to -014, p < .001). However, active approaches also were associated with an increase in emotional problems (ß = 0.07, 95% CI 0.00-0.14, p = .03) not observed for withdrawal approaches. CONCLUSION: Different approaches to discipline appear to have differential associations with later child mental health. Further research accounting for a larger number of parent and child characteristics is needed to assess whether such associations are causal.

Role of dietary supplementation in attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Dietary constituents have been increasingly researched as both potential aetiological factors and interventions for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms. Although the involvement of dietary factors in ADHD is biologically plausible, the literature to date does not indicate causality and there are no grounds yet for the routine recommendation of dietary manipulation in ADHD.