title: Mothers' early depressive symptoms predict children's low social competence in first grade: mediation by children's social cognition.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examined whether social-cognitive processes in children mediate relations between mothers' depressive symptoms across the first 3 years and children's first-grade social competence. Three maladaptive cognitions were examined: self-perceived social inadequacy, hostile attribution, and aggressive response generation.
  
  
  METHODS
  One thousand three hundred and sixty-four mothers reported depressive symptoms across early development, first-grade children reported target social cognitions, and children's first-grade social competence was observed and reported by multiple informants.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Findings demonstrated that (a) mothers' average depressive symptoms from 6 to 36 months predicted children's maladaptive social cognition in first grade, (b) low mother-child responsiveness mediated this relation, and (c) maladaptive social cognition mediated relations between mothers' early depressive symptoms and low first-grade social competence independent of later depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  When mothers' depressive symptoms occur early in development, they may set in motion low-responsive dyadic patterns that promote children's maladaptive social cognition and, as a result, low social competence.
authors.affiliation: Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA.
authors.forename: Yiji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Theodore
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dix
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D012938:Social Perception; D066107:Social Skills
keywords: Mothers' depressive symptoms; social cognition; social competence