Abstract
The intergenerational transmission of poor mental health from parent to child is not surprising given the multiple plausible pathways through which transmission could occur. In this thesis, I employed epidemiological, meta-analytic, and experimental approaches to explore pathways from parent to child internalising problems.To evaluate the role of genetic pathways, I explored how genetic liability to neuroticism is associated with overall levels and persistence of internalising and externalising trajectories across childhood (Chapter 2). To explore parenting as a modifiable pathway, I conducted a systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials of parenting interventions to assess the comparative effectiveness of parenting interventions, and their components, in reducing internalising problems in children (Chapters 3 and 4). To further our understanding of cognitive and behavioural underpinnings of parenting that could be targeted by parenting interventions, I explored the associations between mental health difficulties and different cognitive processes using a maternally adapted version of a learning-based task in expectant mothers recruited from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children cohort and in a nulliparous sample (Chapter 5). I also explored the association between parental mental health difficulties and total duration of salient non-verbal behaviours during at-home parent-infant interactions recorded using wearable cameras (Chapter 6).
Findings presented in this thesis support a link between genetic liability to neuroticism and severity and persistence of internalising problems across childhood. Additionally, I found evidence that parenting interventions focusing on the parent-child relationship may be effective in preventing internalising problems, but that a deeper understanding of targetable parenting processes is warranted. Finally, I found supporting evidence that parental mental health difficulties are associated with impaired learning processes from infant stimuli and a reduced empathic response to infants’ distress during recorded home interactions. Upon further investigation, these behaviours could be integrated as targets into relational parenting interventions.
| Date of Award | 3 Oct 2023 |
|---|---|
| Original language | English |
| Awarding Institution |
|
| Supervisor | Jonathan Evans (Supervisor), Rebecca M Pearson (Supervisor) & Casimir J H Ludwig (Supervisor) |