Parenting as a mediator in the relation between poverty and depressive symptoms in children

Abstract

We utilized a racially and economically diverse sample in a cross-sectional lab-based study to investigate parenting as a mediator in the relation of poverty to depressive symptoms in children. 100 parent/child dyads participated in a puzzle interaction task and interviews of depressive symptoms. Path analysis was used to test mediation models with 3rd and 5th graders separately. In all models, income-to-needs ratio was significantly negatively related to hostile and intrusive parenting and significantly positively related to parenting that was warm and encouraged independence. Evidence for the mediation model was mixed. Significant indirect paths indicated that among 3rd graders, poverty was associated with higher levels of hostility in parents, which in turn was associated with higher levels of self-reported depression in children. In addition, poverty was associated with lower levels of warmth in parents, which in turn was associated with higher levels of parent-reported depression in 3rd graders.