Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years

Background: Parenting theories propose that lack of childhood parental affection confers increased vulnerability to heightened adulthood depression. However, only a few prospective studies have examined this topic, and no studies included mediators of the childhood parental affection–adulthood depression connection. Objective: This study examined parenting, and interpersonal theories by determining if participants’ (n= 2,825) mid-life marital instability mediated their perceived childhood parental affection predicting depressive symptoms in adulthood across 18 years. Methods: Childhood maternal and paternal affection (Parental Support Scale) was measured at Time 1 (T1). Depressive symptoms (Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Short Form) were measured at T1, Time 2 (T2), and Time 3 (T3), spaced approximately nine years apart. Marital instability (Marital Instability Index) was measured at T1 and T2. Structural equation modeling analyses were conducted to test whether perceived childhood parental affection would independently negatively predict T3 depressive symptoms, and if participants’ mid-life marital instability mediated those relations. All analyses adjusted for prior levels of mediator and outcome variables. Results: Lower perceived childhood maternal and paternal affection predicted higher T3 depressive symptoms. Lower childhood maternal and paternal affection predicted higher T2 marital instability. Greater marital instability in turn predicted elevated T3 depression. Individuals’ marital instability mediated those associations, by accounting for 17–20% of the total effects. Conclusion: Findings highlight the importance of perceived childhood parental affection to nurture a strong marital bond to reduce the odds of developing major depressive disorder in middle-to-late adulthood.

© This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Files

Metadata

Work Title Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Madeline Eleanor Bartek
  2. Nur Hani Zainal
  3. Michelle G. Newman
Keyword
  1. parenting theory
  2. interpersonal theory
  3. major depressive disorder
  4. longitudinal
  5. structural equation modeling
License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Elsevier BV
Publication Date August 2021
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. 10.1016/j.jad.2021.04.091
Source
  1. Journal of Affective Disorders
Deposited June 15, 2022

Versions

Analytics

Collections

This resource is currently not in any collection.

Work History

Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added Bartek-in p-Individuals’ marital instability m-1.pdf
  • Added Creator Madeline Eleanor Bartek
  • Added Creator Nur Hani Zainal
  • Added Creator Michelle G. Newman
  • Published
  • Updated Work Title, Keyword Show Changes
    Work Title
    • Individuals� marital instability mediates the association of their perceived childhood parental affection predicting adulthood depression across 18 years
    • Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
    Keyword
    • parenting theory, interpersonal theory, major depressive disorder, longitudinal, structural equation modeling
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
    • ! Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
  • Updated Work Title Show Changes
    Work Title
    • ! Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
    • Individuals’ Marital Instability Mediates the Association of Their Perceived Childhood Parental Affection Predicting Adulthood Depression Across 18 Years
  • Updated