title: The course and quality of intimate relationships among psychologically distressed mothers.
abstract: The longitudinal course and quality of intimate relationships were tested in relation to maternal depressive symptoms in a sample of 1,275 families from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. Assessments of mothers' intimate relationship status, intimate relationship quality, and depressive symptoms were obtained on 11 occasions from the birth of a child through age 15. Consistent with predictions, results from hierarchical linear models indicated that maternal depressive symptoms over time were associated with a lower probability of being married and lower levels of relationship quality. The strength of the association between relationship quality and depression was stronger than the linkage between relationship course and depression. Sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., mother age, child gender, ethnicity) were more predictive of trajectories of relationship course than relationship quality. Findings are discussed in terms of efforts to prevent and treat the longitudinal interplay between poor intimate relationship functioning and partners' psychopathology and its implications for the overall health and well-being of parents, couples, and children.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706, USA. papp@wisc.edu
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Papp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States; D055815:Young Adult
references.citation: J Fam Psychol. 2006 Sep;20(3):369-77
references.pmid: 16937993
references.citation: J Fam Psychol. 2007 Sep;21(3):533-7
references.pmid: 17874939
references.citation: Clin Psychol Rev. 2008 Feb;28(2):179-98
references.pmid: 17573169
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 1998 Nov;107(4):686-90
references.pmid: 9830257
references.citation: J Marital Fam Ther. 1993 Oct;19(4):355-68
references.pmid: 21118474
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1988 Jul;104(1):97-126
references.pmid: 3043529
references.citation: Br J Psychiatry. 1996 Jul;169(1):30-5
references.pmid: 8818365
references.citation: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2000 Jan;35(1):19-27
references.pmid: 10741532
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 1994 Oct;62(5):1033-43
references.pmid: 7806712
references.citation: J Fam Psychol. 2008 Oct;22(5):667-77
references.pmid: 18855503
references.citation: J Consult Clin Psychol. 1998 Feb;66(1):53-88
references.pmid: 9489262
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 2000 Nov;109(4):803-8
references.pmid: 11196008
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 1997 Nov;33(6):1000-11
references.pmid: 9383622
references.citation: J Abnorm Psychol. 2000 May;109(2):345-51
references.pmid: 10895574
references.citation: Psychiatry. 1976 Feb;39(1):28-40
references.pmid: 1257353
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 1999 Sep;35(5):1283-96
references.pmid: 10493654
references.citation: J Fam Psychol. 2003 Dec;17(4):557-70
references.pmid: 14640805
references.citation: Am Sociol Rev. 1977 Oct;42(5):704-15
references.pmid: 931191
references.citation: Child Dev. 2002 Nov-Dec;73(6):1748-60
references.pmid: 12487491
references.citation: Annu Rev Psychol. 1997;48:243-67
references.pmid: 9046561
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2007 Sep;43(5):1202-15
references.pmid: 17723045
references.citation: JAMA. 1996 Jul 24-31;276(4):293-9
references.pmid: 8656541
references.citation: Perspect Sex Reprod Health. 2002 Nov-Dec;34(6):286-93
references.pmid: 12558091
references.citation: J Health Soc Behav. 1983 Jun;24(2):122-31
references.pmid: 6886367
references.citation: Am J Orthopsychiatry. 2006 Jan;76(1):115-9
references.pmid: 16569135
references.citation: Dev Psychol. 2002 Sep;38(5):792-805
references.pmid: 12220056
references.citation: Psychol Bull. 1995 Jul;118(1):3-34
references.pmid: 7644604
references.citation: Am J Public Health. 1993 Feb;83(2):240-4
references.pmid: 8427330