Children’s perceptions of parental emotional neglect and control and psychopathology

Robert Young,Susan Lennie,Helen Minnis

doi:10.1111/j.1469-7610.2011.02390.x

Abstract

Background:Parental emotional neglect is linked to psychiatric disorder. This study explores the associations between children's perceptions of parental emotional neglect and future psychopathology.Methods:In a school-based longitudinal study of nearly 1,700 children aged 11–15 we explored children's perceptions of parenting, as measured by the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) at age 11, and their associations with later psychiatric diagnosis at age 15, as measured by computerised psychiatric interview. Rather than using the traditional four-category approach to the PBI, we identified groups of children, classified according to their perceptions of parenting, using latent class analysis.Results:A small group of children (3%) perceived their parents as almost always emotionally neglectful and controlling. This group had an increased odds of psychiatric disorder (OR 2.14; 95% CI 1.29–4.50), increased overall (standardised) psychiatric symptom scores (B = .46; 95% CI .16–.75) and increased scores in all psychiatric subscales except substance-use at age 15, despite no increase in psychiatric referral at age 11. Analyses controlled for key potential confounders (e.g., socioeconomic status).Conclusions:Although our findings are limited by having no objective evidence that children's perceptions of emotional neglect are directly associated with actual neglect, children's perceptions of neglect and control are associated with over twice the odds of psychiatric disorder at age 15. Children's perceptions that parents are emotionally neglectful and controlling are independently associated with later psychiatric disorder and should be taken seriously as a risk factor for future psychopathology.

Highlights

Parental emotional neglect is linked to psychiatric disorder
Voice-Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) produces present-state diagnoses in accordance with DSM-IV criteria (American Psychiatric Association, 1994) and we focus exclusively on DSM-IV diagnoses based on symptom criteria
Focusing on the ‘almost always’ category, these children perceived themselves as the most helped, most often allowed to do things they like, most loved most understood, most allowed to make decisions, second most controlled, least likely to be treated like a baby and most likely to be made to feel better by their parents

Summary

Background

Parental emotional neglect is linked to psychiatric disorder. This study explores the associations between children’s perceptions of parental emotional neglect and future psychopathology. Children’s perceptions that parents are emotionally neglectful and controlling are independently associated with later psychiatric disorder and should be taken seriously as a risk factor for future psychopathology. The focus has so far centred on various retrospective studies of adults’ perceptions of the parenting they received during childhood and associations with concurrent psychopathology, including depression (Yoshida, Taga, Matsumoto, & Fukui, 2005), borderline personality disorder (Nickell, Waudby, & Trull, 2002), eating disorders (Hedlund, Fichter, Quadflieg, & Brandi, 2003) and conduct disorder (Mak, 1994) Many of these studies have used the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI), a wellvalidated questionnaire which explores parenting experienced in childhood, traditionally in the domains of parental care and control. We set out to determine whether there were associations between perceptions of parental neglect during childhood and future psychopathology in a longitudinal study of 1,694 young people first surveyed at age 11 and again at age 15

Methods

Results

Discussion

Key points