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Image_1_Longitudinal Bidirectional Relationships Between Maternal Depressive/Anxious Symptoms and Children's Tic Frequency in Early Adolescence.jpg (349.09 kB)
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posted on 2021-11-24, 06:26 authored by Tomoko Yagi, Shuntaro Ando, Satoshi Usami, Syudo Yamasaki, Masaya Morita, Tomoki Kiyono, Noriyuki Hayashi, Kaori Endo, Yudai Iijima, Yuko Morimoto, Sho Kanata, Shinya Fujikawa, Shinsuke Koike, Yukiko Kano, Mariko Hiraiwa-Hasegawa, Atsushi Nishida, Kiyoto Kasai

Background: Previous studies have revealed an association between maternal depressive/anxious symptoms and children's tics. However, the longitudinal relationships between these symptoms remain unclear. We examined the longitudinal relationships between maternal depressive/anxious symptoms and children's tic frequency in early adolescence with a population-based sample.

Methods: The participants consisted of 3,171 children and their mothers from the Tokyo Teen Cohort (TTC) study, a population-representative longitudinal study that was launched in Tokyo in 2012. Maternal depressive/anxious symptoms and children's tics were examined using self-report questionnaires at the ages of 10 (time 1, T1) and 12 (time 2, T2). A cross-lagged model was used to explore the relationships between maternal depressive/anxious symptoms and children's tic frequency.

Results: Higher levels of maternal depressive/anxious symptoms at T1 were related to an increased children's tic frequency at T2 (β = 0.06, p < 0.001). Furthermore, more frequent children's tics at T1 were positively related to maternal depressive/anxious symptoms at T2 (β = 0.06, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: These findings suggest a longitudinal bidirectional relationship between maternal depressive/anxious symptoms and children's tic frequency in early adolescence that may exacerbate each other over time and possibly create a vicious cycle. When an early adolescent has tics, it might be important to identify and treat related maternal depressive/anxious symptoms.

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