A cross‐sectional survey of the effect on emerging adults living with a depressed parent

Abstract

Accessible summary• Emerging adults, or those between ages 18 and 25, are at increased risk for mental health problems as they transition into adult roles and relationships. These risks are magnified when a parent has suffered with depression during that emerging adult's upbringing.• Studies examining children of depressed parents tend to focus on samples under the age of 18 when children have yet to develop abstract thinking (e.g. improved reasoning skills, greater understanding of life experiences) and have had less time to reflect on their own experience.• It has been difficult to decipher the most important elements experienced by these children and the impact on emerging adult outcomes and most studies lack theory guiding the work. Some evidence suggests that they encounter a form of loss.• This study is unique in that the retrospective experience of emerging adults who grew up with a depressed parent was examined using variables based on propositions from Ambiguous Loss Theory and the impact on current psychosocial well-being. AbstractA parent who is depressed is physically present, but may be psychologically absent, or different to their children. Changes in the parent-child relationship, feelings of loss, and increased stress can occur for the child. These factors can impair psychosocial well-being throughout the child's upbringing, and the effects might impact that child the most in their transition to adulthood. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine factors experienced while growing up with a depressed parent that might contribute to the current psychosocial well-being of emerging adults (individuals between the ages of 18 and 25) using ambiguous loss theory as a theoretical lens. A cross-sectional, correlational design with multiple regression analysis was used to examine relationships between emerging adults' (n = 120) perceptions of retrospective duration and understanding of parent's depression, caregiving, stress, social support, hope, and boundary ambiguity and current psychosocial well-being. Experiencing hope, stress, and then the length of parent's depression during their upbringing were the most predictive variables for emerging adult psychosocial well-being. Findings from this study will help mental health professionals better understand factors contributing to outcomes for this population. The knowledge to be gained is important for developing or refining age and developmentally appropriate interventions aimed at improving outcomes of adult children of depressed parents.

Outcomes for children who care for a parent with a severe illness or substance abuse

“…The few previous quantitative studies with measures of both positive and negative outcomes have indicated that children experience caregiving as more positive than negative (Joseph et al, 2009;Mechling, 2015;Pakenham et al, 2007;Shifren et al, 2014), which seems in line with qualitative studies showing that children overall experience the caregiving as positive (Heyman & Heyman, 2013;McDougall, O'Connor, & Howell, 2018;Nicholls, Patterson, McDonald, & Hulbert-Williams, 2016). If we further explore why some children experience caregiving as positive while others experience more negative outcomes, we may possibly be able to better identify children affected by parental illness and as young carers in need of interventions developed.…”

Applying ambiguous loss theory to children of parents with an opioid use disorder

“…AL theory was also utilized to examine what a child encounters when a parent suffers from depression in the home. For instance, symptoms of depression often include profound sadness, mood irritability, and lack of energy ( DSM‐5 ; American Psychiatric Association, ), all of which can lead to a child's perception that a parent is emotionally unavailable or “different” from the parent that the child once knew (Mechling, ) or psychologically absent and physically present. Depression is one of the main risk factors for suicidality (American Psychiatric Association, ).…”

“…Depression is one of the main risk factors for suicidality (American Psychiatric Association, ). Suicidality often leads to psychiatric hospitalizationin which the parent is then physically absent, but psychologically present to that child (Mechling, ). This is often a similar case to that of children of parents with an OUD, although magnified by the volatile nature of substance abuse.…”

“…The rationale may pertain to the confusion and uncertainty that occurs regarding the parent with an OUD and their changed demeanor and behavior. Loved ones have described how the person they once knew, was someone much different as illness symptoms began to manifest in both types of AL (the physical absence with psychological presence and the psychological absence with physical presence; Faber et al, ; Landau & Hissett, ; Mechling, ) and in work with children of a parent with an OUD (Dayton, ; Fraser et al, ; Hogan, ). These children can experience erratic parental behaviors that are at times unimaginable.…”

Characteristics of Childhood Parentification and Its Effects on the Individual

“…Alkol/madde bağımlılığının, ebeveynlerin çocuk yetiştirme tutumları üzerinde yarattığı olumsuz etkiler (tutarsız disiplin, tutarsız bakım verme, yemek zamanı ritüellerinin www.nesnedergisi.com belirsizliği ve ekonomik kaynaklarda tutarsızlık gibi) nedeniyle aile sistemini yordamanın zorlaştıracağı; çocuğun da böyle belirsiz bir ortamda kontrol hissini arttırmak için ebeveyn rolü üstlenebileceği ileri sürülmüştür (Burnett, Jones, Bliwise ve Ross, 2006). Depresif bir ebeveynle büyüyen çocuk ve yetişkinlerin, ebeveyn depresyonuna dair anılarını ve ebeveynleşme yaşantılarını yarı-yapılandırılmış görüşmeler ve tema analizleri ile değerlendiren çalışmalarda (Mechling, 2015(Mechling, , 2016Van Parys, Bonnewyn, Hooghe, De Mol ve Rober, 2015;Van Parys ve Rober, 2013) ise ebeveynleşme sürecinin alkol/madde bağımlılığındakinden farklı seyrettiği dikkati çekmektedir. Bu ailelerde, depresyon bir nevi tabu kabul edildiği için bozukluk hakkında konuşulmadığı, çocukların ailenin iyiliğinden kendilerini sorumlu ve ahlaki açıdan zorunlu hissettikleri ("Babama ona yardım etmek istediğimi ve onu çok sevdiğimi söyledim... Bana her zaman 'sen benim sahip olduğum tek şeysin' derdi, bu bile bana daha fazla sorumluluk hissettiriyordu"), kaygılarını çevrelerindeki insanlarla paylaşmayarak ebeveynlerini korumaya çalıştıkları, paylaşmaları durumunda ise kısa bir rahatlamanın ardından suçluluk ve sadakatsizlik duygularının ortaya çıktığı gözlenmiştir.…”