Annotated Bibliography

Name of Student

Institutional Affiliations

Benjet, C., Azar, S. T., & Kuersten-Hogan, R. (2003). Evaluating the parental fitness of

psychiatrically diagnosed individuals: Advocating a functional-contextual analysis of

parenting. Journal Of Family Psychology, 17(2), 238-251.

Most previous researchers focused their attention on some of the reasons as to why parental

cases are terminated. They established that the primary reason behind that was lack of mental

fitness. However, Benjet, Azar, and Kuersten-Hogan wrote this article with the aim of analyzing

parental competency and parenting behavior. They also established that three assumptions should

be made when handling parenting cases in courts. That was for the purpose of eliminating bias.

Firstly, a current or past diagnosis should be treated as adequate evidence that the individual is

incapable of parenting, and thus exposing the child to risk. Secondly, diagnosis shows that the

parent lacks appropriate creative skills to nurture a child. Thirdly, a diagnosis should also be

handled as proof that one is forever unfit to do parenting. This source will assist in the

consideration of these assumptions. Empirical evidence, substance abuse, mental retardation, and

schizophrenia will be discussed as examples of measures of mental unfitness. The data obtained

will be used to explain the experiences that children who are raised by parents with depressive

disorders face. The assumptions will also determine when a mentally unfit parent should or

should be entrusted with parenting.

Downey, G., & Coyne, J. C. (1990). Children of depressed parents: An integrative review.

Psychological Bulletin, 108(1), 50-76.

Downey and Coyne present a review of literature that highlights adjustments made by children

raised by depressed parents, difficulties faced in such parenting, and how such parents and

children interact. The article also discusses some of the factors that may assist in helping children

to adjust to such conditions and management of parental depression. One critical essence of this

section is that it discusses issues that arise from episodic, recurrent, and heterogeneous

depressions. Secondly, Downey and Coyne summarize how children raised by depressed parents

adjust. Thirdly, the authors describe the challenges that depressed parents face in parenting.

They also outline models to explain the problems faced by children in the adjustment program.

Fourth, this review identifies various gaps in the existing literature and recommends methods of

rectifying. As such, this article is critical in expounding the problems faced by both the child and

parent if the parent is depressed.

Durbin, C. E., Klein, D. N., Hayden, E. P., Buckley, M. E., & Moerk, K. C. (2005).

Temperamental Emotionality in Preschoolers and Parental Mood Disorders. Journal Of

Abnormal Psychology, 114(1), 28-37. doi:10.1037/0021-843X.114.1.28

Previous researchers and clinicians have for a long time developed hypotheses claiming that

depressive disorders are partly caused by emotional vulnerabilities. However, such studies failed

to consider the effect of age difference on individuals. They focused on adults and older youth

and ignored the crucial fact that depressive disorders are witnessed during early childhood. To

cover that gap, Durbin, Klein, Hayden, Buckley, and Moerk hypothesized that childhood should

be associated with risk markers such as parental depression if it is to be considered a

temperament factor that could lead to a depressive disorder. As such, the researchers examined

laboratory findings conducted on interviews with respondents who either emotionally positive or

negative. They also investigated cases of behavioral inhibition of a sample of 536 children whose

average age was three years. They found that depressed parents had children who had high levels

of negative emotions and behavioral inhibition. They also discovered that there was a

relationship between parental anxiety and child temperament. This article is critical because it

supports the idea that depressive disorders in parents lead to personalities in children. It is also

essential and unique from previous research studies because it considers all causes of

temperaments rather than the main ones only.

Goodman, S. H., & Brumley, H. E. (1990). Schizophrenic and depressed mothers:

Relational deficits in parenting. Developmental Psychology, 26(1), 31-39

Most psychologists and sociologists claim that R. D. Parke et al. (1988) designed a model that is

critical to the study of how depressed mothers give birth to and raise abnormal children. The

tripartite model argues that dyadic interactions, teaching and coaching practices, and social

environment are some of the ways in which parents have an influence on their children. On the

same note, Goodman and Brumley established that parental psychology may lead to the

disruption of one or all of these fields. Such disruptions are translated to deviant and outcomes in

the children. The importance of this research study is that it discusses the components that make

up the model of development in psychopathology. It also outlines the methods that can be used

to solve issues arising from depressive disorders. The issues discussed include the heterogeneity

of diagnoses in mothers. The researchers made a point of classifying environmental, genetic, and

parenting effects. They also present an analysis of the responses to some of the research

questions, heterogeneity of impact on children, effects caused by age, and the role played by

paternal psychopathology.

Jacob, T., & Johnson, S. L. (2001). Sequential interactions in the parent–child

communications of depressed fathers and depressed mothers. Journal Of Family

Psychology, 15(1), 38-52.

Parental depression leads to problems in adjustment and depression in children. However,

previous researchers failed to establish factors responsible for transmission of depression

disorders from one generation to the next. In this study, Jacob and Johnson hypothesized that a

family in which there was a member who had depression would respond differently from one in

which there was no such a member. The authors drew a comparison between how children and

depressed parents related and the interaction between non-depressed parents and children. The

comparison involved a critical study and analysis of child-parent communication. Parents that

had a depressed father showed cases of positivity suppression. There were decreased rates of

positivity when other family members communicated to the parents. However, such cases were

not found in depressed mothers or non-depressed fathers. This article is critical to this study

because it leads to the understanding that problems in child behavior are caused by positivity

suppression in father-child relations, as well as reduced base rates of positivity.

Jacob, T., & Johnson, S. L. (1997). Parent–child interaction among depressed fathers and

mothers: Impact on child functioning. Journal Of Family Psychology, 11(4), 391-409.

Previous research studies failed to establish whether children who are raised by depressed fathers

and mothers face similar challenges and difficulties. They also failed to address whether or not

the effects are more severe when the mother or father is depressed. In this study, Jacob and

Johnson used questionnaires to complete a survey. 40 fathers, 41 mothers, and 50 normal

families were used as the sample. The research also involved problem-solving interactions that

were videotaped. The results obtained showed that maternal and paternal depression had an equal

degree of effect on children. The child adjustment difficulties faced by children whose mothers

are depressed are similar to those faced by a child whose father has a depression disorder. The

importance of this article is that it provides further insight into the effect of parental disorders on

children. The authors established that children are affected by any form of depression disorder

regardless of whether it affects the mother or the father.

Kaplan, K., Solomon, P., Salzer, M. S., & Brusilovskiy, E. (2014). Assessing an Internet-

based parenting intervention for mothers with a serious mental illness: A randomized

controlled trial. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 37(3), 222-231.

The primary objective that Kaplan, Solomon, Salzer, and Brusilovskiy investigated in this

research study was how effective education on parenting and support invention done through the

Internet could be for mothers who have a Serious Mental Illness. The researcher identified sixty

mothers who had proven conditions of mood disorders or schizophrenia spectrum. They enrolled

them in a Randomized Controlled Trial. They were then required to take an online course on

healthy living. The results indicated that the online course assisted the mothers by equipping

them with skills for parenting as well as coping with their condition. It also led to a significant

reduction in stress level among the mothers. The importance of the RCT is that it proved that

parents suffering from SMI can benefit from education and support on parenting conducted via

online channels. The findings show that online parenting leads to decreased stress and

acquisition of parenting and coping skills.

Koblinsky, S. A., Kuvalanka, K. A., & Randolph, S. M. (2006). Social skills and behavior

problems of urban, African American preschoolers: Role of parenting practices, family

conflict, and maternal depression. American Journal Of Orthopsychiatry, 76(4).

In this article, Koblinsky, Kuvalanka, and Randolph examined how family routines, parenting,

family conflict, and parental depression can be used to predict the difficulties and social skills of

African American preschoolers who were low-earners. The researchers used a sample of 184

mothers who were African American. They responded to an interview and the responses

collected and analyzed. The analysis showed that parents who spent more time with their

children taught them useful social skills. It was also noted that such mothers were those who did

not have depressive symptoms. Lower conflict levels also lead to fewer adjustment difficulties

among the children. The study is important in this research because it supports the topic and

identifies how depressed mothers can be taught responsible parenting.

Milan, S., Snow, S., & Belay, S. (2009). Depressive symptoms in mothers and children:

Preschool attachment as a moderator of risk. Developmental Psychology, 45(4)

The authors drew ideas from transactional models and used them to examine whether the level of

attachment in a 3-year old child raised by a mother who has lived with depression for 8 years

could be used to predict cases of depression in the child once they hit 11 years old. Milan, Snow,

and Belay used a sample of 938 participants whom they obtained from NICHD Study of Early

Child Care. The results showed that attachment at such a tender age had a significant influence

on depression in the children. Most children who had been exposed to depression at that age had

symptoms of depression. Those who had mothers suffering from the disorder for a long time had

more significant signs and stood higher chances of suffering difficulties in adjustment. As such,

this review is critical to this study because it presents the effects of children who are raised by

depressed mothers.

Mowbray, C. T., Oyserman, D., Bybee, D., MacFarlane, P., & Rueda-Riedle, A. (2001). Life

circumstances of mothers with serious mental illnesses. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal,

25(2), 114-123.

According to Mowbray, Oyserman, Bybee, MacFarlane, and Rueda-Riedle, people suffering

from severe cases of mental illnesses have a chance of leading normal lives. They carried out a

research that unveiled that 379 of the women in the urban areas performed their duties

responsibly despite having mental disorders. It also showed that the educational levels were

heterogeneous among the children, fathers, and mothers. The only difference was that the

mothers had a higher rate of poverty than either the fathers or the children. This study is critical

to this research because it points out to ways through which mentally challenged individuals can

be assisted to live normal lives. It also gives hope to depressed mothers that they still stand a

chance to do responsible parents and raise children without extreme challenges and difficulties.

Rutter, M. (1990). Commentary: Some focus and process considerations regarding effects

of parental depression on children. Developmental Psychology, 26(1), 60-67.

In this research, Rutter used six research questions: what is the effect of depression on how

parents and children relate? Is there uniformity between the effects of depression? Do all effects

originate from depression? Do challenges and difficulties originate from disruption of the

interaction between parents and children? What are the psychological effects on children? Why

do there exists differences in the manner in which children respond to parental depression? The

importance of this study is that it establishes the major challenges that children who are raised by

depressed children face.

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."