Citation

Wu Q, Slesnick N. J. Marital Fam. Ther. 2020; 46(1): 81-94.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/jmft.12364

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examined the associations among maternal history of childhood abuse, substance use, and depressive symptoms and the change in children's depressive symptoms in therapy. Mothers (N = 183) were randomly assigned into either a family or an individual treatment condition. Mothers were assessed for their childhood abuse retrospectively, baseline depressive symptoms, and substance use, whereas their children's depressive symptoms were measured five times during 1.5 years. Maternal childhood abuse was associated with a slower decline in child depressive symptoms through elevated maternal depressive symptoms, only in individual treatment. Maternal substance use further moderated this mediation pathway. This study supports the efficacy of family therapy in protecting children of mothers with a substance use disorder and a history of childhood abuse.

Language: en