J Fam Psychol. 2025 Oct 27. doi: 10.1037/fam0001420. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
Mothers with depression often experience guilt related to parenting. Studies on the relation between parenting guilt and depression have been primarily cross-sectional; consequently, it is unclear whether heightened parenting guilt is a correlate, predictor, or consequence of depressive symptoms. This brief report examines longitudinal and reciprocal relations between maternal guilt and depressive symptoms over a 9-month period using methods that disentangle between- and within-person variability. Evidence that within-person changes in maternal guilt predict subsequent changes in depression symptoms, or evidence of reciprocal within-person effects, would provide more stringent evidence for the utility of addressing maternal guilt in treatment of depression among mothers. At three time points over 9 months, 225 U.S. mothers with a previous mood disorder reported on depression symptoms and parenting guilt. A random-intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM) was used to differentiate between-person and within-person effects. Maternal guilt and depressive symptoms were significantly related at the between-person level, with moderate concurrent correlations. Significant within-person, cross-lagged effects were found from maternal guilt to later depression, but not from depression to maternal guilt. In other words, increases or decreases in parenting guilt from a mother’s “norm” predicted a subsequent, corresponding change in the severity of her depressive symptoms. These findings establish temporal precedence at the within-person level, highlighting that maternal guilt may be one potentially amenable mechanism influencing the course of depressive symptoms in mothers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
PMID:41143776 | DOI:10.1037/fam0001420
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