Papa was a rollin' stone: how father's psychological distress impacts child's internalizing and externalizing symptoms.

Abstract

While parental psychological distress is a commonly examined risk factor in the development and maintenance of child's emotional and behavioral problems, there is an incomplete understanding of the unique contribution of the father. The current study examines whether paternal psychological distress (i.e., depression, anxiety, and anger) exacerbates child's internalizing and externalizing behaviors, as well as whether a child's internalizing and externalizing behaviors exacerbate paternal psychological distress. The National Institute of Child and Human Development (NICHD)'s Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) longitudinal dataset was utilized. A bivariate latent difference score model was applied to examine the interdependence of each member within the dyad. This novel statistical technique allowed for the examination of the influence of psychological distress in the father-child dyad across 10 years. Results indicated that paternal anger is a risk factor associated with the development and maintenance of internalizing and externalizing behaviors in children. Likewise, children's behavioral problems served as a contributing factor to paternal anger and anxiety. Results were nonsignificant for the effect of depression on change in internalizing and externalizing problems. The initial levels correlated with each other, but one did not affect the change in the other. Overall, the results have clinical implications, as they can be applied to the creation or modification of intervention plans by shifting the focus from the primary outcome being a decrease in child problem behavior to an overall reduction of psychological distress in the family unit.