Intergenerational continuity of parental rejection and depressed affect

Abstract

Using survey and observational data from a sample of 451 intact families, this study used structural equation modeling to examine the intergenerational continuity of depressed mood and rejecting parenting. The model partially replicated the intergenerational model of Elder, Caspi, and Downey (1986) that indicates a cyclical transmission process by which parents' personality traits affect parent-child interaction, which, in turn, increases the propensity for developmental problems among offspring. The results indicated a pattern of intergenerational transmission of depressed mood through parental rejection of offspring. Multiple reporters and multiple indicators strengthen previous intergenerational findings by reducing some of the method variance biases that have been problematic in prior studies.