MOTHERS EXPRESSED ATTITUDES - ASSOCIATIONS WITH MATERNAL DEPRESSION AND CHILDRENS SELF-ESTEEM AND PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

Objective: Mothers' expressed attitudes about their children were examined to discern whether the associations between maternal depression and children's psychopathology and self-esteem might be modified by the mother's expression of critical attitudes. Method: Mother-child dyads with mothers who had a history of at least one episode of unipolar major depression during the child's lifetime (N = 20) were compared to dyads with well parents (N = 19). Children's ages ranged from 8 to 10 years. Mothers' attitudes toward their children were derived from semistructured interviews. The affect expressed in each maternal statement was coded as neutral, positive, descriptive negative, or affectively charged negative. Results: Affectively charged negative statements were found to be associated with mothers with a history of depressive episodes. A tendency was noted for the highest rates of psychopathology to be among children of depressed mothers who used affective-negative statements. Mothers' use of affectively charged negatives was found to modify the association between maternal depression and children's lower global self-worth. Conclusions: Clinicians attuned to mothers' expression of critical attitudes toward their children might detect children at risk for lowered self-esteem and the development of psychopathology.