Maternal symptoms of depression do not predict increases in children’s behaviour problems, even for children with autism spectrum disorder, according to a study published online 26 August in Family Process.

Danielle Roubinov, PhD, from the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues examined parenting stress and child diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as moderators of bidirectional associations between maternal depression and child behaviour problems.

Analysis included 86 mother-child dyads, including 41 mothers of children with ASD and 45 mothers of neurotypical children who reported maternal depressive symptoms, child behaviour problems, and parenting stress at three time points over the course of 18 months. 

The researchers found that when controlling for lagged maternal depressive symptoms, child behaviour problems were associated with greater subsequent maternal depression at the between-person, but not at the within-person, level.