![]() Path analysis was conducted, a bootstrapped test was used. Adult children (n = 314 age 18–59) completed surveys on perceptions of successes (compared with counterparts, speculated how parents rate their successes, and compared with same-gender parent) problems (self’s, father’s, and mother’s) parents’ feelings (positive and negative) intergenerational relationships (intergenerational ambivalence and instrumental solidarity) and health outcomes. In the present study, we tested the links between perceptions of successes, problems, and their own health outcomes, as well as the mediating role of perceptions of parents’ feelings and intergenerational relationships. Several studies have focused on adult children’s successes and problems and implications for their own well-being, but few studies have paid attention to their implications for adult children’s health outcomes. Our results provide a unique extension of COR theory. Middle-aged offspring use both personal and family-based resources to buffer the psychological ramifications of their mother's problems. When mothers had low problems, receiving more maternal support was associated with lower depressive symptoms and receiving low support was associated with increased depressive symptoms. When maternal problems were high, the amount of support offspring receive from their mother had a negative association with offspring depressive symptoms. When mothers had high problems, results indicate a negative association between depressive symptoms and physical health. Participants whose mothers had few problems generally reported low levels of depressive symptoms. We use multiple regression to examine maternal support and self-reported health as moderators of maternal problems on offspring depressive symptoms. This phenomenon is rarely explored among middle-aged offspring and their aging parents.ĭrawing from the Family Exchanges Study, we focus on a sample (N = 308) of middle-aged adults (mean age = 51) whose only living parent was their mother. Children employ many resources to cope with the problems of parents who suffer from disabilities, cognitive impairment, and functional limitations. ![]() ![]() Depressed individuals who are offspring of depressed parents may be at particular risk for the secondary deficits of depression.Ĭonservation of Resources (COR) theory postulates that individuals utilize various resources to manage stressful circumstances. However, parental status moderated associations between offspring's depression severity and their impairment: relationships between depression and impairments were generally stronger for offspring of depressed parents than for offspring of nondepressed parents. Parental status (depressed or not depressed) was not directly related to offspring impairment once offspring depression symptoms were controlled. After controlling for demographic factors, offspring who were more depressed experienced more impairment: physical dysfunction, pain, and disability anxiety, smoking, and drinking-related problems poorer social resources negative events and severe stressors and reliance on emotional discharge coping. Respondents completed mailed questionnaires. The sample was adult offspring of parents who had been diagnosed with depression 23 years earlier (N = 143) and demographically matched nondepressed parents (N = 197). This study examined whether having a depressed parent intensifies the secondary deficits that often co-occur with offspring's depression symptoms.
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