Inner child of the past: long-term protective role of childhood relationships with mothers and fathers and maternal support for mental health in middle and late adulthood

Abstract

Purpose National longitudinal studies that investigate the long-term association between early family life and mental health in middle and older adulthood are limited. This study aims to fill the gap by examining the protective effect of positive childhood relationships with mothers and fathers and parental support against depression among women and men in middle and late adulthood. Methods The sample of 12,606 adults (7319 females; 5287 males) from the US Health and Retirement Study was nationally representative with the inclusion of 7 depression measures from 2008 to 2018. Two depression measures, CESD-8 scale and binary indicators of severe depressive symptoms, were used. Generalized estimation equations (GEE)-negative binomial models were estimated for CESD-8 and GEE-logit models were estimated for the binary indicator of severe depression. This study aimed to assess how positive parent-child relationships and maternal support protect the mental health of women and men in adulthood. Other risk and psychosocial factors, such as childhood depression, traumatic life events, stressful life events, marital status, and social support in adulthood were adjusted for. Results Positive childhood relationships with mothers, fathers, or both parents and increased maternal support were associated with a lower risk of depression among both females and males from middle to old age, even if they experienced trauma, stressful life events, divorce, singlehood, widowhood, or little social support. Females benefited more psychologically than males from positive mother-daughter relationships and high-quality relationships with both parents. However, compared to mother-child relationships, positive father-child relationships protected men better psychosocially than females. Conclusion Findings underscore the importance of fathers' roles in promoting their children's, especially sons', emotional well-being. Interventions in early mother-child and father-child relationships and parental support are crucial for healthy aging in mental development. KeywordsMother-child and father-child relationships • Positive childhood family relationships • Paternal support • Depression in middle and old adulthood • Life-time mental health * Ping Chen

The Effects of Family and School Interpersonal Relationships on Depression in Chinese Elementary School Children: The Mediating Role of Academic Stress and the Moderating Role of Self-Esteem

“…Also, self-determination theory [ 90 ] states that individuals develop and build a sense of security for themselves and others when the social environment satisfies their psychological need for relatedness as a result of the interaction and development between the individual’s psychological needs (i.e., autonomy, relationships, and competence) and the social environment. In other words, positive interpersonal experiences satisfy children’s basic psychological needs and lead to increased personal growth and well-being, thus reducing the probability of depressive symptoms [ 91 ]. On the other hand, good interpersonal relationships allow children to develop positive cognitive schemas and self-evaluations, which reduce their risk of depression.…”

“…As a result, children consider their parents a source of security in their lives [ 93 ] and they also receive more guidance from their parents in their academic development, making them more dependent on their parents. The increase in the length of time parents spend with children in their studies helps elementary school students develop better study habits and improve their academic level and sense of self-worth, thus reducing their psychological problems [ 65 , 89 , 91 ].…”

The Impacts of Family Educational Investment on Mental Health of Chinese Parents: Mediating and Moderating Effects

“…One is self-rated mental health (SRMH), which requires respondents to rate their overall mental health on one item on a five-point scale from excellent to poor [15]. The other is to assess only one or more aspects of mental health, such as anxiety, stress, and depression [16,17]. In this study, we used CESD20sc data from CFPS 2018 to measure the mental health of parents; this scale specifically measures the level of depression.…”