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Mothers' early depressive symptoms predict children's low social competence in first grade: mediation by children's social cognition
Author(s) -
Wang Yiji,
Dix Theodore
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/jcpp.12297
Subject(s) - psychology , social competence , cognition , developmental psychology , social cognition , attribution , mediation , depressive symptoms , social relation , clinical psychology , social change , psychiatry , social psychology , political science , law , economics , economic growth
Background This study examined whether social‐cognitive processes in children mediate relations between mothers' depressive symptoms across the first 3 years and children's first‐grade social competence. Three maladaptive cognitions were examined: self‐perceived social inadequacy, hostile attribution, and aggressive response generation. Method One thousand three hundred and sixty‐four mothers reported depressive symptoms across early development, first‐grade children reported target social cognitions, and children's first‐grade social competence was observed and reported by multiple informants. Results Findings demonstrated that (a) mothers' average depressive symptoms from 6 to 36 months predicted children's maladaptive social cognition in first grade, (b) low mother–child responsiveness mediated this relation, and (c) maladaptive social cognition mediated relations between mothers' early depressive symptoms and low first‐grade social competence independent of later depressive symptoms. Conclusion When mothers' depressive symptoms occur early in development, they may set in motion low‐responsive dyadic patterns that promote children's maladaptive social cognition and, as a result, low social competence.