Paternal and maternal psychological distress and adolescent health risk behaviors

The role of sensitive periods

Bibliographic Data

ID21444656
AuthorsMaria Sifaki (0009-0007-1753-1034, Research Department of Epidemiology and Public Health UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care London UK, corresponding author), Eirini Flouri (0000-0001-6207-4847, Department on Psychology and Human Development UCL Institute of Education London UK), Emily Midouhas (0000-0003-4870-6638, Department on Psychology and Human Development UCL Institute of Education London UK)
Year2024
Volume96
Issue8
Pages1843-1852
Publication date2024-12-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Adolescence (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0140-1971 • E-ISSN: 1095-9254
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/jad.12385
PMID39072763
OpenAlexW4401101668
LanguageEN
References cited40

INTRODUCTION: Adolescent health risk behaviors are linked to poor physical and mental health outcomes. While past research shows that maternal psychological distress predicts those behaviors, we know less about the role of paternal psychological distress and the role of sensitive periods. METHODS: Using 11,128 data from families (50.5% female children) from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study, we examined the role of timing of exposure to paternal and maternal psychological distress in engagement in health risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol use, binge drinking, and sexual activity) at age 14. Paternal and maternal psychological distress, measured with the Kessler-6 scale, were assessed at child ages 3, 7, and 11. We performed path analysis, adjusting for key covariates, modeling maternal distress parallel to paternal, and allowing for autoregressive paths. RESULTS: Paternal distress experienced at age 11 predicted a higher likelihood of smoking at age 14. Maternal distress at age 7 also predicted a higher likelihood of smoking, alcohol use, and binge drinking, but only for boys. Moreover, maternal distress at age 3 was associated with a lower risk for alcohol use. Effects were not replicated in the sensitivity analysis we performed, including only families with resident biological fathers across the study period. Instead, maternal and paternal distress at age 11 raised girls' risk for binge drinking and sexual activity, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Parental distress in early childhood does not predict adolescent health risk behaviors. In late childhood, however, both paternal and maternal distress seem to influence the likelihood of engagement in such behaviors.

Adolescent development · Developmental psychology · Distress · Mental health · Psychiatry · Psychological distress · Child Abuse and Trauma · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Clinical Psychology · Prenatal Substance Exposure Effects · Psychology

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