Navigating the Emotional Challenges of Grade School: The Influence of Early Family Strains and a Lack of Parental Responsiveness on Trajectories of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms

Although parenting is critical to children's emotional development, broader family processes can also play an important role in the development of anxiety and depressive symptoms in children. The current study examined the influence of early family strains (i.e., chronic stressors and resource deficits) on children's trajectories of anxiety and depressive symptoms throughout grades 1-4 via (less) responsive parenting at preschool age. Further, we examined whether familial factors were differentially associated with child anxiety and depressive symptoms as a function of child temperamental negative affect, a prominent risk factor for internalizing problems. In a US longitudinal study including five waves of data spanning preschool to grade 4 (N = 496), analyses revealed that higher levels of family strains were associated with less responsive parenting during preschool, b = -0.16, p = 0.001. Less responsive parenting was associated with greater escalation in anxiety and depressive symptoms over grade school for children of average or higher negative affect, b = -0.11, 95% CI [-0.22, -0.01]. Examination of conditional indirect effects of family strains on symptom change via less responsive parenting showed statistical significance at average and higher levels of negative affect. Higher levels of family strains were also associated with higher levels of symptoms at grade 4, b = 0.45, p = 0.005, controlling for responsive parenting and child negative affect. Findings suggest that interventions for reducing risk for internalizing problems and promoting emotional health in children may show improved efficacy if modified to respond to family circumstances and stressors.