Mothers' Depressive Symptoms and Child Externalizing Problems: Aversion Sensitivity as an Underlying Mechanism

Background The mechanisms responsible for why depressed parenting undermines child development are poorly understood. One proposal is that depressive symptoms increase mothers' aversion sensitivity, thereby increasing the frequency of mothers' negative emotional arousal. Objective This study examined aversion sensitivity as a marker of maladaptive emotional processes occurring in depressed mothers to explain why mothers' depressive symptoms so consistently disrupt child behavior. Method During a 2‐year period, mothers' depressive symptoms and children's externalizing problems were measured repeatedly; interactions between mothers and their 4‐ to 11‐year‐old children were observed (N dyad = 284). Results Results demonstrated that mothers' aversion sensitivity mediated the relation between mothers' depressive symptoms and child externalizing problems in the next assessment. Conclusion Aversion sensitivity may underlie depression‐related parenting problems. It has the potential to clarify why depressive symptoms predict dysfunctional parenting and, as a result, developmental problems in children. Implications Aversion sensitivity has the potential to elucidate how and why depressive adaptations to a large number of personal and social circumstances reduce parenting competence and predict developmental problems in children.