Reciprocal relationships between paternal psychological distress and child internalising and externalising difficulties
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ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION
Reciprocal relationships between paternal psychological distress and child internalising and externalising difficulties from 3 to 14 years: a cross‑lagged analysis Maria Sifaki1 · Emily Midouhas1 · Efstathios Papachristou1 · Eirini Flouri1 Received: 21 April 2020 / Accepted: 4 September 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Research shows that paternal psychological distress is associated with child emotional and behavioural difficulties. However, little is known about the direction of this association including whether it is bidirectional. The aim of this study was to explore the reciprocal relationships between paternal psychological distress and child emotional and behavioural problems longitudinally (at ages 3, 5, 7, 11 and 14 years) in a sample of 13,105 children (49% girls) who participated in the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), a large-scale, nationally representative, longitudinal survey. Four domains of child problems (emotional symptoms, peer relations, conduct problems and hyperactivity/inattention) were measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and paternal psychological distress was measured with the Kessler K-6 scale. Data were analysed using crosslagged path models. At all ages, paternal psychological distress predicted both subsequent child emotional symptoms as well as peer problems. Paternal psychological distress at child’s age 3 was related to more hyperactivity at age 5 and, at age 5, paternal psychological distress was associated with more conduct problems at age 7. At age 11, paternal distress was also related to age 14 conduct problems and hyperactivity. Child effects were fewer and were found mainly for behavioural problems. Notably, we found bidirectional links between paternal psychological distress and child peer difficulties, from 11 to 14 years. Paternal psychological distress appears to influence child behaviour more consistently than the converse. However, in early adolescence, there appears to be a reciprocal relationship between fathers’ mental health problems and children’s peer problems. Keywords Child behaviour · Cross-lagged panel models · Millennium cohort study · Paternal psychological distress
Introduction An extensive amount of research has demonstrated the damaging and long-term consequences of maternal psychological distress on child emotional and behavioural difficulties [1]. Other research suggests effects in the opposite direction such that child emotional–behavioural problems increase maternal psychological distress, or that maternal psychological distress and child problems may influence each Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-020-01642-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Maria Sifaki [email protected] 1
Department of Psychology and Human Development, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, 25 Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AA, UK
other [2–5]. The literature has placed much less emphasis on th
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