Perceived maternal parenting as a mediator of the intergenerational similarity of dependency and self-criticism: A study with Arab Jordanian adolescents and their mothers.

Abstract

This study investigated the intergenerational similarity of personality vulnerability to depression as conceptualized by Blatt (1974) in a sample of Arab Jordanian mothers and their adolescents. Perceived maternal parenting was examined as a mediator of the intergenerational similarity of two personality vulnerabilities; that is, dependency and self-criticism. Both mothers and adolescents (N ϭ 298 families) completed the Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ) to tap into personality vulnerability and adolescents additionally provided ratings of maternal parenting (support and psychological control) and depressive symptoms. Findings showed significant and specific associations between mothers' and adolescents' dependency and self-criticism. Perceived maternal parenting was found to mediate this intergenerational similarity at least partially. This study is among the first to test developmental hypotheses derived from Blatt's theory in a non-Western sample. Findings show striking similarity with data obtained in the West and, as such, contribute to the cross-cultural generalization of the theory.

The Relations among Parental Power Assertion, Control, and Structure

“…Baumrind uses the findings of Gunnoe, Hetherington, and Reiss [2006] to support her point that coercive control might not be negative in some contexts. In fact, Gunnoe et al's finding that children of more authoritarian fathers displayed lower social responsibility and cognitive agency (perceived competence) in both conservative protestant and nonconservative protestant families and that, for both types of families, authoritarian behavior indirectly predicted both externalizing and internalizing symptomatology is consistent with the now myriad findings of the detrimental effects of coercive control in diverse cultures [e.g., Ahmad & Soenens, 2010;Barber, Stolz, & Olsen, 2005;Wang, Pomerantz, & Chen, 2007]. However, beyond there being consistency in effects of major parenting constructs, one can ask whether particular practices might have different meanings in different cultures.…”

Psychometric properties from a Spanish validation of Depressive Experiences Questionnaire (DEQ)

“…Blatt's theory noted the relationship between attachment and the development of the Dependency or the SelfCriticism personality dimensions (Blatt & Homann, 1992). Several investigations confirmed these relationships with the results indicating a relationship between Dependency and Anxious attachment style and another relationship between Self-Criticism and Dismissing attachment style (Ahmad et al, 2010;Bers, Besser, Harpaz-Rotem, & Blatt, 2013;Tondar, Campos, Shakiba, Dadkhah, & Blatt, 2016), as well as higher scores for the correlation between Dependency and Anxious attachment. However, correlations between SelfCriticism and the Dismissing attachment style were not significant, although they were nevertheless strong than those for the Dismissing and Dependency styles (Ahmad & Soenenss, 2010).…”

“…The validation of the questionnaire in other cultures has normally focused on factorial analysis, subscale correlations and comparison of the weight of the factors using the original sample. The results of the questionnaire in different languages have shown good internal consistency; ranged from .63 to .94 (Ahmad & Soenens, 2010;Boucher et al, 2006;Campos, 2000;Campos, Besser, & Blatt, 2013, Yao et al, 2009). The structural model found in the different languages was Portuguese (dependency, self-criticism and efficacy), French (dependency, self-criticism (with low weight) and efficacy), Arab (dependency and selfcriticism), Chinese (dependence, relatedness, selfcriticism and efficacy).…”

The Role of Parenting and Mother-Adolescent Attachment in the Intergenerational Similarity of Internalizing Symptoms

“…The role of parenting in the intergenerational similarity of internalizing symptoms also was supported indirectly in several studies on the transmission of personality vulnerability to depression. For example, research found evidence for autonomy-suppressing (controlling) parenting and for parenting lacking in warmth as intervening variables in the relationship between parents' and adolescents' self-critical perfectionism (e.g., Ahmad and Soenens 2010;Amitay et al 2008;. Together then, findings provide preliminary evidence for the role of parenting in the intergenerational congruence of internalizing symptoms.…”