Coping With the Stress of Parental Depression: Parents' Reports of Children's Coping, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems

Examined children's coping and involuntary responses to the stress of living with a depressed parent in relation to their symptoms of anxiety/depression and aggression. Sixty-six clinically depressed adults rated their children's (ages 7 to 17 years old; N = 101) coping and involuntary responses to parental stressors and anxiety/depressive and aggressive behavior symptoms. Based on parent report, children of depressed parents had high rates of symptoms of anxiety/depression and aggression, were exposed to moderate levels of parental stressors (parental intrusiveness, parental withdrawal), and responded to the stress of living with a depressed parent in ways that were associated with symptoms of psychopathology. Children's use of secondary control coping (e.g., positive thinking, acceptance, distraction) was associated with fewer anxiety/depression and aggression symptoms. In contrast, involuntary engagement responses (e.g., rumination, intrusive thoughts) were associated with more anxiety/depression and aggression symptoms. Path analyses revealed that a model in which secondary control coping and involuntary engagement stress responses mediated the relation between family stressors and child symptoms provided the best fit with the data. Implications of these findings for developing interventions for children to reduce the risk of psychopathology are discussed.