4

CHILD TEMPERAMENT, PARENT DEPRESSION, AND CHILD CORTISOL

Supplemental Materials

Child Temperament and Parental Depression Predict Cortisol Reactivity to Stress in Middle Childhood

by S. V. M. Mackrell et al., 2013, Journal of Abnormal Psychology

Our sample consisted of single- and two-parent homes, raising the possibility that children’s exposure to parental depression varied depending on family composition. We therefore reran all models presented in Tables S2 to S4 in the manuscript including only families composed of two-parent homes. The original pattern of findings remained largely unchanged in these analyses of the smaller sample. More specifically, the MLM findings remained consistent with the original effects, with child Fear/BI and paternal depression predicting higher cortisol levels at the level of intercept. The significant interaction between child PE and maternal depression also remained significant at the level of intercept and slope in two-parent families. A main effect of paternal depression and child Fear/BI was consistent across both the original and smaller sample predicting AUCg. The interaction between maternal depression and child PE also remained significant in the reduced sample predicting AUCi.; however, child Fear/BI was no longer a fully significant predictor of AUCi, (p = .10), likely due to the reduced sample size.

Table S2

Parental Depression and Child Temperament Predicting HLM Effects for Two-Parent Households

Coefficient intercept coefficient (SE) / t-value / PVR for intercept / Instantaneous rate of change coefficient (SE) / t-value / PVR for instantaneous rate of change / Cortisol curvature coefficient (SE) / t-value / PVR for curvature
PE / −.0008 (.0005) / −1.60 / .00 / −.0005 (.0006) / −.88 / .05 / .0002 (.0001) / 1.32 / .00
Fear/BI / .0082 (.0032) / 2.55* / .09 / .0027 (.0035) / .76 / .00 / −.0004 (.0008) / −.48 / .00
Maternal depression / −.0020 (.0034) / −.59 / −.05 / .0007 (.0045) / .16 / .00 / .0002 (.0010) / .19 / .00
Paternal depression / .0118 (.0048) / 2.45* / .10 / .0094 (.0072) / 1.30 / .00 / −.0024 (.0018) / −1.35 / .00
PE × Maternal depression / .0028 (.0010) / 2.90** / .11 / −.0024 (.0012) / −2.00* / .06 / .0004 (.0003) / 1.26 / .50

*p < .05; **p < .01; N = 131.

Note. PE = positive emotionality, BI = behavioral inhibition, PVR = proportion variance reduction.

Table S3

Parental Depression and Child Temperament Predicting AUCg for Two-Parent Households

Variable / Unstandardized coefficient (b) / Standardized coefficient (β) / SE / pr2 / t
PE / −.003 / −.131 / .002 / .02 / −1.63
Fear/BI / .046 / .292 / .013 / .09 / 3.62**
Maternal depression / .002 / .292 / .013 / .00 / .13
Paternal depression / .070 / .260 / .021 / .08 / 3.30**

**p < .01, *p < .05; N = 134.

Note. PE = positive emotionality, BI = behavioral inhibition, pr = partial correlation.

Table S4

Parental Depression and Child Temperament Predicting AUCi for Two-Parent Households

Variable / Unstandardized coefficients (b) / Standardized coefficient (β) / SE / pr2 / t
PE / −.001 / −.027 / .002 / .00 / −.27
Fear/BI / .016 / .122 / .011 / .02 / 1.42
Maternal depresison / .010 / .056 / .015 / .00 / .67
Paternal depression / .009 / .039 / .019 / .00 / .46
Maternal depression × PE / −.010 / −.244 / .004 / .07 / −2.46*

**p < .01, *p < .05; N = 134.

Note. PE = positive emotionality, BI = behavioral inhibition, pr = partial correlation.