Early childhood temperament, anxiety, and depression

Olino, Finsaas, Dyson, Carlson, & Klein (2022) published “A Multimethod, Multiinformant Study of Early Childhood Temperament and Depression and Anxiety Symptoms in Adolescence” in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. Here’s the abstract:

There is an extensive literature documenting associations between dimensions of temperament and depressive and anxiety disorders. However, much of the research in this area relies on cross-sectional and monomethod designs, uses samples of older youth and adults, and examines only the main effects of temperament. We examined longitudinal associations between temperamental positive emotionality (PE) and negative emotionality (NE) in early childhood and depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescence. We assessed temperament using laboratory observations and parent reports, and symptoms using youth and parent report. We also examined potential moderators of these associations, including maternal and paternal history of depressive and anxiety disorders, youth experience of stressful life events, and parenting styles. Early childhood NE was associated with both adolescent depression and anxiety. Additionally, life events and psychological controlling and firm parenting moderated the associations between NE and depression symptoms, and maternal depression, paternal anxiety, and psychological controlling and firm parenting moderated the associations between NE and anxiety symptoms. Interaction effects were largely consistent with diathesis-stress interpretations. These findings show that temperamental NE, but not PE, is prospectively associated with risk for depressive and anxiety symptoms in adolescence, and that multiple additional factors potentiate these associations. 

Psychological controlling parenting is seen as manipulative because it uses love withdrawal, guilt induction, and conditional approval, with the emphasis on the parent controlling the child. Firm parenting focuses more on the parent’s role in creating structure with clear consequences so that the child experiences the ability to predict and control what happens. Longitudinal research is always helpful and this study examines important moderating variables. Using both laboratory observation and parental report is also important as is getting both youth and parent reports of symptoms. This research suggests that practitioners ask questions about early childhood temperament, relative strength of negative emotionality, parenting style, and parent history of anxiety and depression.