Intergenerational impact of maternal trauma on adolescent depression: The role of parenting factors in Samoan mother-daughter dyads.

Prior research has found links between maternal trauma and adolescent depression symptoms via maternal depression symptoms and parenting practices; however, these relationships have not been explored in American Samoa - a critical oversight given the centrality of family in this context and a high prevalence of adolescent mental health problems. This exploratory retrospective cohort study aimed to fill this gap. We assessed maternal trauma, maternal and child depressive symptoms, and parenting practices among 98 mother-adolescent daughter (13-18 years) dyads using multivariable linear regression models and simple and serial path analyses in American Samoa between 2023-2024. Contrary to prior findings, maternal trauma was negatively associated with maternal and child depression symptoms (βˆ = -0.46; p = 0.03). Covariate adjustment markedly attenuated the effect of the primary exposure (βˆ = 0.03; p = 0.92) and tapered the secondary exposure's (βˆ = -0.36; p = 0.002) effects. Maternal depression emerged as an important variable of interest and was further explored in path analyses. Maternal trauma had significant indirect effects on child depression symptoms via maternal depression symptoms (mediation proportion [MP]: 79%), communication problems (MP: 39.6%), negative interactions (MP: 61.6%), and relational power balance (MP: 61.3%). In a serial mediation model, we identified indirect effects of maternal depression symptoms on child depression symptoms via negative interactions (MP: 78.8%) and relational power balance (MP: 11.6%). These results provide preliminary support for programs that address maternal depression and parenting practices that could further strengthen Samoan adolescent girls' mental health and direct the focus of further research in this context.