Psychiatric Disorders in Adolescence and Early Adulthood and Risk for Child-Rearing Difficulties During Middle Adulthood

Abstract

Data from a community-based longitudinal study were used to investigate the associations of parental psychiatric disorders evident by early adulthood with child-rearing behavior during middle adulthood. A series of psychiatric assessments was conducted during the adolescence (mean ages 14 and 16) and early adulthood (mean age 22) of 153 males and 224 females. Child-rearing behavior was assessed at mean parental age 33 and mean offspring age 8. Parental anxiety, depressive, disruptive, substance use, and personality disorders evident by mean age 22 were each associated with more than one type of problematic child-rearing behavior at mean age 33, after parental and offspring age and sex and co-occurring parental disorders were controlled statistically. Antisocial, borderline, dependent, paranoid, and passive—aggressive personality disorder symptoms during adolescence and early adulthood were independently associated with the overall level of problematic child-rearing behavior at mean age 33.