The aim of the proposed project is to add to current knowledge about risk factors for child internalizing and externalizing disorders. The project will do this by studying the cross-sectional relationships between parenting maternal depressive symptoms, maternal social problem solving, parenting attitudes and behaviors, and child outcomes in a population of women and their children. The main idea behind this thesis is that social problem solving and parenting may mediate the relationship between maternal depressive symptoms and child internalizing and externalizing disorders. Mothers who are depressed may be poorer social problem solvers, and more likely to engage in suboptimal parenting attitudes and behaviors, of the sort that have been shown to lead to increased child internalizing and externalizing disorders. In the long term (beyond the scope of the proposed project) remediation of social problem solving may be more effective for improving parenting and child outcomes than focusing on discreet parenting behaviors. The population chosen for this study is women who had their children while they were still adolescents, and are now adults with children 5-6 years of age. This population was chosen because adolescent mothers have been shown to be at risk of being poor social problem solvers, and have also been shown to be at risk of suboptimal parenting practices. Furthermore, children of adolescent mothers have been shown to be at increased risk for poor outcomes. Data on maternal depression, maternal social problem solving, and parenting will be collected via interviews using structured questionnaires. Data on child internalizing and externalizing disorders will be collected from a caregiver outside the home using structured questionnaires.
