Taraban, L., Shaw, D. S., Leve, L. D., Natsuaki, M. N., Ganiban, J., M., Reiss, D., and Neiderhiser, J. M. (2019). Parental depression, overreactive parenting, and early childhood externalizing problems: Moderation by social support. Child Development, 90, e468-485. doi: 10.1111/cdev.13027

This study used a large (N = 519), longitudinal sample of adoptive families to test overreactive parenting as a mediator of associations between parental depressive symptoms and early childhood externalizing, and parents’ social support satisfaction as a moderator. Maternal parenting (18 months) mediated the association between maternal depressive symptoms (9 months) and child externalizing problems (27 months). Paternal parenting was not a significant mediator. Unexpectedly, we found a cross-over effect for the moderating role of social support satisfaction, such that partners’ social support satisfaction reduced the strength of the association between each parent’s own depressive symptoms and over-reactive parenting. Results point to the importance of accounting for broader family context in predicting early childhood parenting and child outcomes.