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Parenting style and mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We examined associations between parenting style and past-year mental disorders in a nationally representative cross-sectional survey of US adolescents and whether the associations differed by adolescent demographic characteristics.

Methods

The sample included 6483 adolescents aged 13–18 years who were interviewed for a full range of DSM-IV mental disorders. Parenting style was assessed by adolescent-reported maternal and paternal care and control using items from the Parental Bonding Instrument. We controlled for socio-demographics, parental history of mental disorders, stressful life events, sexual violence, inter-parental conflict, and household composition. We also tested for two-way interactions between parental care and control and adolescent age, sex, and race/ethnicity.

Results

In adjusted models, high maternal care was associated with lower odds of depressive, eating, and behavioral disorders, and high maternal control was associated with greater odds of depressive, anxiety, eating, and behavioral disorders. High paternal care was associated with lower odds of social phobia and alcohol abuse/dependence. High paternal control was associated with greater odds of agoraphobia and alcohol abuse/dependence but with lower odds of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Associations of maternal and paternal control with anxiety disorders and substance abuse/dependence differed by sex. High paternal care was associated with lower odds of anxiety disorders only among Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks.

Conclusions

Perceived parental care and control were associated with adolescent mental disorders after controlling for multiple potential confounders. Differential patterns of association were found according to adolescent sex and race/ethnicity. Findings have implications for prevention and intervention programs that incorporate familial contextual factors.

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Acknowledgements

The National Comorbidity Survey Adolescent Supplement (NCS-A) is supported by Grants U01-MH60220, R01-MH66627, and U01MH060220-09S1 from the National Institute of Mental Health) with supplemental support from the National Institute of Drug Abuse, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (Grant 044780), and the John W. Alden Trust. This work was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (ZIAMH002808). The authors have no conflict of interest. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent the views of any of the sponsoring organizations, agencies, or US Government.

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  1. Genetic Epidemiology Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Building 35, Room 2E480, 35 Convent Drive, MSC #3720, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    John David Eun, Diana Paksarian, Jian-Ping He & Kathleen Ries Merikangas

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  1. John David Eun
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Correspondence to Kathleen Ries Merikangas.

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Eun, J.D., Paksarian, D., He, JP. et al. Parenting style and mental disorders in a nationally representative sample of US adolescents. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 53, 11–20 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1435-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1435-4

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