Parent-adolescent relationship quality as a link in adolescent and maternal depression

Guided by family systems theory and the depression-distortion hypothesis, the purpose of this study was to test the extent to which mother-adolescent relationship quality linked the known associations between maternal depression and adolescent depression. Data from the Longitudinal Study of Child and Adolescent Well-being were used to test hypotheses with a sample of 267 mother-adolescent dyads. Findings demonstrated the longitudinal associations between perceptions of mother-adolescent relationship quality and adolescent and maternal depression. Specifically, maternal depression symptoms were negatively correlated with adolescent perceptions of the relationship at age 12 and 14, which were positively correlated with adolescent depression at age 14. Additionally, youth depression at age 8 was positively correlated with maternal depression at adolescent ages 12 and 14. A significant association was found between youth depression and adolescent perception of the parent-adolescent relationship quality, such that higher youth depression scores were moderately linked with lower adolescent report of quality of the relationship at age 12. Further, higher levels of youth depressive symptoms were associated with lower maternal perception of the parent-adolescent relationship quality at youth age 12. Implications for clinical intervention and research are discussed.