Parental behavior perceived by adolescents and self-perception in adult age: a prospective study

This study analyzed data collected on a merged cohort of 220 Subjects born in 1961-64 from unwanted pregnancies and 220 control subjects. Data were collected on these subjects at the ages of about 9, 15, 21, 30, and 35 years. By means of the ADOR questionnaire (theCzech version of Shaefer's CRPBI) the subjects supplied information at the ages of 15-16 and 21-23 years on how they perceived the attitudes of their mothers and fathers toward themselves in childhood. Scores of mother's and father's perceived hostility and directiveness were used in regression analyses as predictors of anxiety, neuroticism, depression, and interpersonal problems reported by the subjects years later in their adult life. The perception of both mother's and father's attitudes at 15-16 was predictive of neuroticism and anxiety in the age of 21-23 years. The perception of parents' attitudes reported at 21-23 years predicted anxiety, depression, low self-confidence, problems with partners and with own children reported by the subjects at the ages of 30-35 years. The perception of mother's or father's hostility was the key predictor of self-reported problems whereas parents' perceived directiveness was without prognostic significance. The perception of parental attitudes explained 4 to 10 percent of the variance of the applied measures of adults' emotional instability. The respondent style of the subjects was controlled in the analyses.