Early Father Involvement Moderates Biobehavioral Susceptibility to Mental Health Problems in Middle Childhood

Autor/inn/en	Boyce, W. Thomas; Essex, Marilyn J.; Alkon, Abbey; Goldsmith, H. Hill; Kraemer, Helena C.; Kupfer, David J.
Titel	Early Father Involvement Moderates Biobehavioral Susceptibility to Mental Health Problems in Middle Childhood
Quelle	In: Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 45 (2006) 12, S.1510-1520 (11 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0890-8567
Schlagwörter	Severity (of Disability); Social Environment; Infant Care; Infants; Child Health; At Risk Persons; Mental Health; Fathers; Depression (Psychology); Stress Variables; Parent Participation; Correlation; Children; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Biological Influences; Child Behavior; Mental Disorders; Family Environment; Child Rearing; Metabolism; Emotional Response + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schweregrad; Soziales Umfeld; Säuglingspflege; Infant; Toddler; Toddlers; Kleinkind; Risikogruppe; Psychohygiene; Elternmitwirkung; Korrelation; Child; Kind; Kinder; Psychiatrische Symptomatik; Biologischer Faktor; Mental illness; Geisteskrankheit; Familienmilieu; Kindererziehung; Stoffwechsel; Emotionales Verhalten
Abstract	Objective: To study how early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts interactively predict mental health symptoms in middle childhood. Method: Fathers' involvement in infant care and maternal symptoms of depression were prospectively ascertained in a community-based study of child health and development in Madison and Milwaukee, WI. In a subsample of 120 children, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity to standardized challenges were measured as indicators of biobehavioral sensitivity to social context during a 4-hour home assessment in 1998, when the children were 7 years of age. Mental health symptoms were evaluated at age 9 years using parent, child, and teacher reports. Results: Early father involvement and children's biobehavioral sensitivity to context significantly and interactively predicted symptom severity. Among children experiencing low father involvement in infancy, behavioral, autonomic, and adrenocortical reactivity became risk factors for later mental health symptoms. The highest symptom severity scores were found for children with high autonomic reactivity that, as infants, had experienced low father involvement and mothers with symptoms of depression. Conclusions: Among children experiencing minimal paternal caretaking in infancy, heightened biobehavioral sensitivity to social contexts may be an important predisposing factor for the emergence of mental health symptoms in middle childhood. Such predispositions may be exacerbated by the presence of maternal depression. (Contains 3 figures and 2 tables.) (Author).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10