Relationships with Parents, Spousal Reciprocity, and Psychological Distress in Middle-Age Adults

Abstract

Data from 301 middle-age couples were employed to investigate links between their recalled parents' parenting styles and perceptions of reciprocity with their parents, as well as their current perceptions of spousal reciprocity, on their psychological distress. The research extends Baumrind's theory of childhood parenting styles and Youniss' theory of late adolescents' perceived reciprocity to a developmental model for middle-age psychological distress. Differential effects were found according to the gender of both the offspring and the parent. There were significant positive findings only if the opposite-sex parent was perceived as authoritative, and significant negative findings if the same-sex parent was perceived as authoritarian. Regression models indicated mediated, integrated relationships (through maternal and spousal reciprocity) for females, but no mediations were found for males. Significantly more variance in emotional distress was explained by spousal reciprocity than by the parent related variables, and for the men than for the women.

Employing Transformative Learning Theory in the Design and Implementation of a Curriculum for Court-Ordered Participants in a Parent Education Class

“…Conversely, those raised in permissive homes described their childhood as ''laid back'' and their parents as ''lenient'' and ''pushovers.'' The relationship of the parenting people experience as children to their own parenting behavior is underresearched (Wintre & Gates, 2006); however, our findings indicate that the style of participants' family of origin (FOO) appears to have strongly influenced them, leading some of them to replicate their parents' style and others to parent their children in the extreme opposite manner. Eight participants identified themselves as being permissive.…”

“…Children raised by authoritative parents demonstrate low anxiety and depression, self-reliance, self-confidence, and maturity, while those raised by authoritarian parents experience vulnerability, depression, low self-esteem, and hostility (Baumrind, 1966; King et al, 2007; Wintre & Gates, 2006. Topics discussed in class included communication, self-esteem, household policy, and discipline.…”

“…The researcher-facilitator sought to ensure that participants had a thorough understanding of parenting style so that they could accurately identify their own style. Extensive class discussions focused on characteristics of each parenting style and the effect those aspects have on child outcome (King, Kraemer, Bernard, & Vidourek, 2007; Wintre & Gates, 2006). Each behavioral management component, including communication and discipline, was deliberated in relation to its corresponding parenting style (Baumrind, 1966).…”

“…Using the facets of parental responsiveness (warmth) and parental demandingness (control) as critical elements, Baumrind identified three parenting styles —authoritarian (strict), permissive (indulgent), and authoritative (a balance of kindness and firmness). Research on parenting style and child outcome consistently indicates that the authoritative style of parenting is the optimal approach to rearing children (Gunty & Buri, 2008; King, Kraemer, Bernard, & Vidourek, 2007; Steinberg, 2001; Wintre & Gates, 2006).…”

Exploring the perception of survivors on the bidirectional impact between cancer and their social contexts: A mixed-methods approach

“…Using a mixed-methods approach, the breadth of inquiry was expanded as quantitative methods only measured the linear relationship of cancer on social contexts. As such, qualitative questions were designed to explore in greater depth the bidirectional impact between the patient and specific contexts that were indicated as important in previous research including spirituality/ faith (e.g., Cohen et al, 2017;Holland et al, 1998Holland et al, , 1999, the spousal/partner relationship (e.g., Kayser, Watson, & Andrade, 2007;Wintre & Gates, 2006), and the family (e.g., Edwards & Clarke, 2004;Milberg, Wåhlberg, & Krevers, 2014). Each topic area had two open-ended questions to assess the bidirectional impact of cancer.…”