Abstract
Data from 301 middle-age couples were employed to investigate links between their recalled parents’ parenting styles and perceptions of reciprocity with their parents, as well as their current perceptions of spousal reciprocity, on their psychological distress. The research extends Baumrind’s theory of childhood parenting styles and Youniss’ theory of late adolescents’ perceived reciprocity to a developmental model for middle-age psychological distress. Differential effects were found according to the gender of both the offspring and the parent. There were significant positive findings only if the opposite-sex parent was perceived as authoritative, and significant negative findings if the same-sex parent was perceived as authoritarian. Regression models indicated mediated, integrated relationships (through maternal and spousal reciprocity) for females, but no mediations were found for males. Significantly more variance in emotional distress was explained by spousal reciprocity than by the parent related variables, and for the men than for the women.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This research was partially funded by a Social Science and Research Council Grant to the Senior Author and a Fonds pour la Formation de Cherchuers et L’Aide a la Recherche (FCAR) Grant to the second Author. The authors are indebted to Navneet Dhami, Nicole Azzi, Daniel Garfinkel, Ahuva Wisebrod and Dr. Doba Goodman for their assistance on the project.
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Wintre, M.G., Gates, S.K.E. Relationships with Parents, Spousal Reciprocity, and Psychological Distress in Middle-Age Adults. J Adult Dev 13, 84–94 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-006-9008-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10804-006-9008-x