The Long Arm of Maternal Differential Treatment: Effects of Recalled and Current Favoritism on Adult Children’s Psychological Well-Being
Year: 2016
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Objectives: In this article, we draw from classic theories of social psychology and the life course to compare the effects of current and recalled perceived maternal differential treatment (MDT) on the depressive symptoms of adult children in midlife.Method: To address this question, we used data collected from 746 adult children nested within 293 later-life families as part of the Within-Family Differences Study.Results: Multilevel regression revealed that both recollections of maternal differentiation from childhood and perceptions of mothers' current disfavoritism regarding conflict predicted depressive symptoms, whereas perceptions of current favoritism regarding emotional closeness did not.Discussion: Taken together, the findings from this investigation reflect principles of theories of social comparison and the life course in that both perceptions of current MDT and MDT recalled from childhood affect children's well-being in midlife.These findings contribute to a growing body of literature highlighting the role of within-family differences in parent-child relationships on well-being across the life course. Keywords: Adult children-Depressive symptoms-Mother-child relations-Parental favoritism-Psychological well-being-Withinfamily designDespite norms calling for parents to avoid favoring some of their children over others (Cleese & Bates, 2003;Cohen & Cohen, 1997), a substantial proportion of adult children and parents have reported that parental favoritism is common in both childhood and adulthood (Bedford, 1992;Boll, Ferring, & Filipp, 2003; Suitor, Gilligan, & Pillemer, 2013).Perceptions of maternal differential treatment (MDT) have been found to play an important role in well-being in both childhood and adolescence, predicting depression, anxiety, and poor adjustment (Kowal & Kramer, 1997;Kowal, Kramer, Krull, & Crick, 2002;Shanahan, McHale, Crouter, & Osgood, 2008).Studies have documented that such MDT also has consequences on psychological well-being in adulthood.Young adults have been found to have poorer adjustment when they perceived mothers' differential treatment (Young & Ehrenberg, 2007), particularly in the presence of high levels of perceptions of favoritism and disfavoritism (Jensen, Whiteman, Fingerman, & Birditt, 2013).Similarly, perceptions of both favoritism and disfavoritism in midlife have been found to be associated with higher depressive symptoms (Pillemer,
Authors: Siyun Peng, J. Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan
Institutions: Purdue University West Lafayette, Iowa State University
Language: English
Subfield: Demography
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2514692646