ArticlePloS one2023
Maternal mental-health treatment moderates the association between psychological distress and harsh parenting: A prospective cohort study.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- A Within-Person Examination of the Family Stress Model: Family Income, Parental Distress, and Child Mental Health.Research on child and adolescent psychopathology · 2026Article
- Longitudinal pathways between maternal depression, parenting behaviors, and early childhood development: a mediation analysis.International journal of behavioral development · 2025Article
- Brain structural and functional outcomes in the offspring of women experiencing psychological distress during pregnancy.Molecular psychiatry · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveParental psychological distress (depression, anxiety) is detrimental to child mental health. A key reason for this is that depressed and anxious parents are at risk of engaging in more negative, reactive and harsh parenting. While treatment for psychological distress has a long history of success in adults, less is known about how treatment for parental psychological distress may positively influence parenting behaviours, particularly in the general population. We examined the moderating role of mothers receiving treatment for depression or anxiety on the longitudinal relationship between maternal psychological distress and the development of harsh parenting (smacking and shouting) across early childhood (ages 3 to 7).
methodUsing prospective data from 16,131 families participating in the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, we conducted moderator analysis within a multilevel repeated measures model to test whether receiving treatment for mental health problems could protect mothers with high psychological distress from engaging in harsh parenting.
resultsIn each wave, about 7% of mothers reported undergoing treatment for depression or anxiety at that time. Maternal psychological distress was associated with increased use of harsh parenting and that, adjusting for psychological distress, receiving psychological treatment was related to decreased use of harsh parenting. Importantly, receiving psychological treatment buffered the negative effect of psychological distress on harsh parenting.
conclusionIn early-to-middle childhood, mental health treatment may help mothers with depression or anxiety to be less harsh toward their children, thereby benefiting their child's psychological adjustment.
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