Hostname: page-component-7dd5485656-npwhs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-10-31T06:03:28.736Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Expressed emotion in multiple subsystems of the families of toddlers with depressed mothers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2004

FRED A. ROGOSCH ,
DANTE CICCHETTI  and
SHEREE L. TOTH
FRED A. ROGOSCH
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
DANTE CICCHETTI
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
SHEREE L. TOTH
Affiliation:
Mt. Hope Family Center, University of Rochester
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Expressed emotion was examined in families of toddlers (N = 101) whose mothers had experienced major depressive disorder occurring since the child's birth, and contrasted with expressed emotion in demographically comparable families (N = 54) with no history of parental mental disorder to elucidate family systems processes as contributors to child functioning. Both mothers and fathers provided Five-Minute Speech Samples on their child, their spouse, and themselves, and completed measures of marital adjustment, trait affect, relationship quality with their own parents in childhood, and child behavior problems. Maternal-expressed emotion criticism regarding child, self, and spouse was higher in the families with depressed mothers; paternal criticism regarding self and spouse also was higher in the depressed families. Mothers and fathers in the depressed group also differed on relational/affective features, exhibiting lower marital satisfaction, higher trait negative affect, and more negative childhood relationship representations, relative to the nondepressed group, and mothers reported more child behavior problems. Mediational models were evaluated separately for the different targets of maternal and paternal criticism and child behavior problems, and findings supported both individual parent and spouse contributions as mediators of the relation between depression group status and expressed criticism and child behavior problems. The findings are discussed in terms of the multiple levels of family system influence on negativity in the emotional environment of toddlers of depressed mothers, developmental risk, and the need for family-level interventions.Completion of this work was supported by grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH45027) and the Spunk Fund, Inc. We thank Traci McCabe for her diligent coding of the Five Minute Speech Samples.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
Development and Psychopathology , Volume 16 , Issue 3 , September 2004 , pp. 689 - 709
Copyright
© 2004 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

REFERENCES

Achenbach, T. M. (1992). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist 2–3 and 1992 Profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Achenbach, T. M., Edelbrock, C., & Howell, C. (1987). Empirically-based assessment of the behavioral and emotional problems of 2–3 year old children. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 15, 629–650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
American Psychiatric Association. (1987). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed., Rev.). Washington, DC: Author.
Asarnow, J. R., Goldstein, M. J., Tompson, M., & Guthrie, D. (1993). One-year outcomes of depressive disorders in child psychiatric inpatients: Evaluation of the prognostic power of a brief measure of expressed emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 34, 129–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asarnow, J. R., Tompson, M., Hamilton, E. B., Goldstein, M. J., & Guthrie, D. (1994). Family expressed emotion, childhood-onset depression, and childhood-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorders: Is expressed emotion a nonspecific correlate of child psychopathology or a specific risk factor for depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 22, 129–145.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Asarnow, J. R., Tompson, M., Woo, S., & Cantwell, D. P. (2001). Is expressed emotion a specific correlate for depression or a nonspecific correlate of psychopathology. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 29, 573–583.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baron, R. M. & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 51, 1173–1182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biringen, Z. (1990). Direct observation of maternal sensitivity and dyadic interactions in the home: Relations to maternal thinking. Developmental Psychology 26, 278–284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blatt, S. J. (2004). Experiences of depression: Theoretical, clinical, and research perspectives. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Blatt, S. J., & Homann, E. (1992). Parent–child interaction in the etiology of depression. Clinical Psychology Review 12, 47–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blatt, S. J., Quinlan, D. M., Chevron, E. S., McDonald, C., & Zuroff, D. C. (1982). Dependency and self-criticism: Psychological dimensions of depression. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 50, 113–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolton, C. B., Calam, R., Barrowclough, C., Peters, S., Roberts, J., Wearden, A., & Morris, J. (2003). Expressed emotion, attributions, and depression in mothers of children with problem behavior. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 44, 242–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boszormenyi–Nagy, I., & Spark, G. M. (1973). Invisible loyalties. New York: Harper & Row.
Bowen, M. (1978). Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson.
Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York: Basic Books.
Bowlby, J. (1980). Attachment and loss; Vol. 3. Loss. New York: Basic Books.
Brennan, P. A., Hammen, C., Katz, A. R., & Le Broque, R. M. (2002). Maternal depression, paternal psychopathology, and adolescent diagnostic outcomes. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 70, 1075–1085.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brennan, P. A., Le Broque, R., & Hammen, C. (2003). Maternal depression, parent–child relationships, and resilient outcomes in adolescence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 42, 1469–1477.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bretherton, I. (1990). Open, communication and internal working models: Their role in the development of attachment relationships. In R. A. Thompson (Ed.), Socioemotional development. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation (Vol. 36, pp. 57–113). Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Brown, G. W., Birley, J. L. T., & Wing, J. K. (1972). Influences of family life on the course of schizophrenic disorders: A replication. British Journal of Psychiatry 121, 241–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, G. W., & Rutter, M. (1966). The measurement of family activities and relationships: A methodological study. Human Relations 19, 241–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butzlaff, R. L., & Hooley, J. M. (1998). Expressed emotion and psychiatric relapse: A meta-analysis. Archives of General Psychiatry 55, 547–552.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Caspi, A., Moffitt, T. E., Morgan, J., Rutter, M., Taylor, A., Arseneault, L., Tully, L., Jacobs, C., Kim–Cohen, J., & Polo–Tomas, M. (2004). Maternal expressed emotion predicts children's antisocial behavior problems: Using monozygotic-twin differences to identify environmental effects on behavioral development. Developmental Psychology 40, 149–161.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D. (1991). Fractures in the crystal: Developmental psychopathology and the emergence of the self. Developmental Review 11, 271–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., & Schneider–Rosen, K. (1986). An organizational approach to child depression. In M. Rutter, C. Izard, & P. Read (Eds.), Depression in young people, clinical and developmental perspectives (pp. 71–143). New York: Guilford Press.
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1995). Developmental psychopathology and disorders of affect. In D. Cicchetti & D. J. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Risk, disorder and adaptation (pp. 369–420). New York: Wiley.
Cicchetti, D., & Toth, S. L. (1998). The development of depression in children and adolescents. American Psychologist 53, 221–241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cicchetti, D., Toth, S. L., & Rogosch, F. A. (2004). Toddler–parent psychotherapy for depressed mothers and their offspring: Implications for attachment theory. In L. Atkinson & S. Goldberg (Eds.), Attachment issues in psychopathology and intervention (pp. 229–275). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Coyne, J. C., Downey, G., & Boergers, J. E. (1992). Depression in families: A systems perspective. In D. Cicchetti & S. L. Toth (Eds.), Developmental perspectives on depression. Rochester Symposium on Developmental Psychopathology (Vol. 4, pp. 211–249). Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press.
Coyne, J. C., & Whiffen, V. E. (1995). Issues in personality as diathesis for depression: The case of sociotropy-dependency and autonomy-self-criticism. Psychological Bulletin 118, 358–378.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994a). Children and marital conflict: The impact of family dispute and resolution. New York: Guilford Press.
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1994b). Maternal depression and child development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 35, 73–112.Google Scholar
Cummings, E. M., & Davies, P. T. (1999). Depressed parents and family functioning: Interpersonal effects and children's functioning and development. In T. Joiner & J. C. Coyne (Eds.), The interactional nature of depression: Advances in interpersonal approaches (pp. 299–327). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Cummings, E. M., Davies, P. T., & Campbell, S. B. (2000). Developmental psychopathology and family process. New York: Guilford Press.
Daley, D., Sonuga–Barke, E. J. S., & Thompson, M. (2003). Assessing expressed emotion in mothers of preschool AD/HD children: Psychometric properties of a modified speech sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology 42, 53–67.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diamond, D., & Doane, J. A. (1994). Disturbed attachment and negative affective style: An intergenerational spiral. British Journal of Psychiatry 164, 770–781.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Downey, G., & Coyne, J. C. (1990). Children of depressed parents: An integrative review. Psychological Bulletin 108, 50–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Epstein, S. (1983). The Mother–Father–Peer Scale. Unpublished manuscript. University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Framo, J. L. (1992). Family-of-origin therapy: An intergenerational approach. New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Hibbs, E., Hamburger, S. D., Kruesi, M. J., & Lenane, M. (1993). Factors affecting expressed emotion in families of disturbed and normal children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry 63, 103–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirshfeld, D. R., Bierderman, J., Brody, L., Faraone, S. V., & Rosenbaum, J. F. (1997a). Associations between expressed emotion and child behavioral inhibition and psychopathology: A pilot study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 205–213.Google Scholar
Hirshfeld, D. R., Bierderman, J., Brody, L., Faraone, S. V., & Rosenbaum, J. F. (1997b). Expressed emotion toward children with behavioral inhibition: Associations with maternal anxiety disorder. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 36, 910–917.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. (1975). Four-Factor Index of social status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University.
Hooley, J. M. (1986). Expressed emotion and depression: Interactions between patients and high- versus low-expressed-emotion spouses. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95, 237–247.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hooley, J. M., & Licht, D. M. (1997). Expressed emotion and causal attributions in the spouse of depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 196, 298–306.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jacobsen, T., Hibbs, E., & Ziegenhain, U. (2000). Maternal expressed emotion related to attachment disorganization in early childhood: A preliminary report. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 899–906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jaenicke, C., Hammen, C., Zupan, B., Hiroto, D., Gordon, D., Adrian, C., & Burge, D. (1987). Cognitive vulnerability in children at risk for depression. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 15, 559–572.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kershner, J. G., Cohen, N. J., & Coyne, J. C. (1996). Expressed emotion in families of clinically refereed and nonreferred children: Toward a further understanding of the expressed emotion index. Journal of Family Psychology 10, 97–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magana, A. B., Goldstein, M. J., Karno, M., Miklowitz, D. J., Jenkins, J., & Falloon, R. H. (1986). A brief method for assessing expressed emotion in relatives of psychiatric patients. Psychiatry Research 17, 203–212.Google Scholar
Main, M., Kaplan, N., & Cassidy, J. (1985). Security in infancy, childhood, and adulthood: A move to the level of representation. Monographs for the Society for Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209), 66–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, C. A., Lau, A. S., Valeri, S. M., & Weisz, J. R. (2004). Parent–child interactions in relation to critical and emotionally-overinvolved expressed emotion (EE): Is EE a proxy for behavior? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 32, 83–93.Google Scholar
McCarty, C. A., & Weisz, J. R. (2002). Correlates of expressed emotion in mothers of clinically-referred youth: An examination of the Five-Minute Speech Sample. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 43, 759–768.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merikangas, K., & Spiker, D. G. (1982). Assortative mating among inpatients with primary affective disorder. Psychological Medicine 12, 753–764.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minuchin, P. (1985). Families and individual development: Provocations from the field of family therapy. Child Development 56, 289–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Minuchin, S. (1974). Families and family therapy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Minuchin, S., Rosman, B. L., & Baker, L. (1978). Psychosomatic families: Anorexia nervosa in context. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRef
Nelson, D. R., Hammen, C., Brennan, P. A., & Ullman, J. B. (2003). The impact of maternal depression on adolescent adjustment: The role of expressed emotion. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 71, 935–944.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paley, B., Cox, M. J., Burchinal, M. R., & Payne, C. C. (1999). Attachment and marital functioning: Comparison of spouses with continuous-secure, earned-secure, dismissing, and preoccupied attachment stances. Journal of Family Psychology 13, 580–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peris, T. S., & Baker, B. L. (2000). Applications of the expressed emotion construct to young children with externalizing behavior: Stability and prediction over time. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 457–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, P., Coyne, J. C., & Kessler, R. C. (1991). Assortative mating for psychopathology in a community sample. Unpublished manuscript, University of Michigan.
Ricks, M. (1985). The social transmission of parental behavior: Attachment across generations. Monographs for the Society of Research in Child Development, 50(1–2, Serial No. 209), 211–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robins, L., Heltzer, J., Orvaschel, H., Anthony, J., Blazer, D., Burnam, A., & Burke, J. (1985). The Diagnostic Interview Schedule. In W. Eaton & R. Kessler (Eds.), Epidemiologic field methods in psychiatry (pp. 143–170). New York: Academic Press.
Schwartz, C. E., Dorer, D. J., Beardslee, W. R., Lavori, P. W., & Keller, M. D. (1991). Maternal expressed emotion and parental affective disorder: Risk for childhood depressive disorder, substance abuse, or conduct disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research 24, 231–250.Google Scholar
Spanier, G. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family 38, 15–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spanier, G. (1989). Dyadic Adjustment Scale Manual. North Tonawanda, NY: Multi-Health Systems.
Sroufe, L. A., & Rutter, M. (1984). The domain of developmental psychopathology. Child Development 55, 17–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stubbe, D. E., Zahner, G. E., Goldstein, M., & Leckman, J. (1993). Diagnostic specificity of a brief measure of expressed emotion: A community sample of children. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 34, 139–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sullivan, H. S. (1953). The interpersonal theory of psychiatry. New York: Norton.
Vaughn, C. E., & Leff, J. P. (1976). The influence of family and social factors on the course of psychiatric illness: A comparison of schizophrenic and depressed patients. British Journal of Psychiatry 129, 125–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wamboldt, F. S., O'Connor, S. L., Wamboldt, M. Z., Gavin, L. A., & Klinnert, M. D. (2000). The Five Minute Speech Sample in children with asthma: Deconstructing the construct of expressed emotion. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 41, 887–898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 54, 1063–1070.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Watson, D., & Walker, L. K. (1996). The long-term stability and predictive validity of trait measures of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 70, 567–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wearden, A. J., Tarrier, N., Barrowclough, C., Zastowny, T. R., & Rahill, A. A. (2000). A review of expressed emotion in health care. Clinical Psychology Review 20, 633–666.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weissman, M. M., & Paykel, E. S. (1974). The depressed woman. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Whiffen, V. E., & Gotlib, I. H. (1989). Depression and marital functioning: An examination of specificity and gender differences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 98, 23–30.Google Scholar