Effects of Parental Attitudes in Childhood on Depressive Symptoms Through Trait Anxiety and Negative Life Events in Adult Volunteers

Abstract

Background: The mechanism underlying how parental attitudes in childhood, trait anxiety (TA), and adult life events cause depression remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the associations among parental attitudes in childhood, TA, adult life events, and depressive symptoms to assess the mechanism of the development of depressive symptoms.

Participants and methods: This study was conducted between January and August 2014. A total of 404 Japanese adult volunteers completed questionnaires, including Parental Bonding Instrument, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory Form Y, Life Experiences Survey, and Patient Health Questionnaire-9, to assess the parental attitudes of care and overprotection experienced in childhood, TA, life events, and depressive symptoms, respectively. The associations among these variables were analyzed by structural equation modeling.

Results: Parental attitude did not affect depressive symptoms directly, but affected TA directly. The influence of "care" on TA was negative, but that of "overprotection" on TA was positive. TA had a positive influence on negative life events (NLEs) and depressive symptoms in adulthood. Although NLEs in adulthood had a positive influence on depressive symptoms, positive life events in adulthood did not have any effect. Regarding indirect effects, parental attitude influenced NLEs and depressive symptoms through TA. TA worsened depressive symptoms through NLEs in adulthood. Regarding the parental attitude subscale of "care", this decreased depressive symptoms through TA and NLEs in adulthood. Care and overprotection showed opposite effects. The model fit was good or acceptable (Comparative Fit Index > 0.97 and Root Mean Square Error of Approximation < 0.08).

Conclusion: This study suggested that parental attitudes in childhood influence adult depressive symptoms through TA and NLEs. Improving the quality of child care may decrease TA, reduce NLEs in adulthood, and reduce depressive symptoms indirectly. Guidance for parents and interventions to reduce TA may be useful for the prevention of depression in adulthood.

Keywords: depressive symptoms; negative life events; parental attitudes; structural equation modeling; trait anxiety.

Figure 1

Results of the structural equation model with the parental attitude of “care” experienced in childhood as the latent variable, and trait anxiety (TA of STAI-Y), positive and negative life events (PLEs and NLEs of LES), and depression (PHQ-9) as the observed variables. The oval indicates the latent variable, and rectangles indicate the observed variables. The statistically significant paths are shown as arrows with solid lines, and the nonsignificant paths are shown as arrows with broken lines. Direct effects (A) and indirect effects (B) between the variables are shown. The numbers show the standardized path coefficients. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001.

Figure 2

Results of the structural equation model with the parental attitude of “overprotection” experienced in childhood as the latent variable, and trait anxiety (TA of STAI-Y), positive and negative life events (PLEs and NLEs of LES), and depression (PHQ-9) as the observed variables. The oval indicates the latent variable, and rectangles indicate the observed variables. The statistically significant paths are shown as arrows with solid lines, and the nonsignificant paths are shown as arrows with broken lines. Direct effects (A) and indirect effects (B) between the variables are shown. The numbers show the standardized path coefficients. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, and ***p < 0.001.