Dysfunctional Parenting and Family Adversities in Association with Depressive Symptoms in Female Adolescents: The Roles of Personality Traits

  

    
 
    
Regression coefficient estimation of family    factor (former variable in model)
    
 
    
Regression coefficient estimation of personality    trait (latter variable in model)
    
 
    
 
      
 
      
Model fitting test
  
  

    
Model
    
b
    
se (b)
    
p
    
 
    
b
    
se (b)
    
p
    
 
    
F
    
p
    
Adjusted R2
  
  

    
Paternal Care + Neuroticism
    
-1.91
    
0.40
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
1.38
    
0.05
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
274.7
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4817
  
  

    
Maternal Care + Neuroticism
    
-2.06
    
0.40
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
1.36
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
279.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4819
  
  

    
Paternal Protection + Neuroticism
    
1.43
    
0.41
    
0.0005
    
 
    
1.39
    
0.05
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
269.9
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4773
  
  

    
Maternal Protection + Neuroticism
    
1.65
    
0.41
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
1.38
    
0.05
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
274.8
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4776
  
  

    
Cohesion + Neuroticism
    
-0.10
    
0.03
    
0.0008
    
 
    
1.39
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
275.1
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4762
  
  

    
Adaptability + Neuroticism
    
-0.13
    
0.03
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
1.37
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
281.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4819
  
  

    
Family economic status + Neuroticism
    
1.23
    
0.39
    
0.0019
    
 
    
1.40
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
274.4
    
< 0.0001
    
0.4755
  
  

    
Cohesion + Extroversion
    
-0.25
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
-0.34
    
0.07
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
24.4
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0720
  
  

    
Adaptability + Extroversion
    
-0.30
    
0.03
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
-0.33
    
0.07
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
34.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.1001
  
  

    
Family economic status + Extroversion
    
2.80
    
0.52
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
-0.34
    
0.07
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
21.8
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0646
  
  

    
Paternal Care + Psychoticism
    
-4.06
    
0.53
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.76
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
31.4
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0935
  
  

    
Maternal Care + Psychoticism
    
-4.41
    
0.52
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.70
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
34.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.1007
  
  

    
Paternal Protection + Psychoticism
    
3.12
    
0.55
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.76
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
24.3
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0734
  
  

    
Maternal Protection + Psychoticism
    
3.78
    
0.55
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.64
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
28.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0841
  
  

    
Cohesion + Psychoticism
    
-0.24
    
0.04
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.76
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
25.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.0750
  
  

    
Adaptability + Psychoticism
    
-0.29
    
0.03
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
0.73
    
0.14
    
< 0.0001
    
 
    
35.5
    
< 0.0001
    
0.1028
  
  

    
All    models were controlled for grade and academic performance. 
      
 
    
 
    
 
  

Table 4:  Multivariable regression models of depressive symptoms by family factors and personality traits.

It is interesting to note that the regression coefficient estimates for family factors and personality traits were similar to those in (Table 3) if the models contained extroversion or psychoticism traits, showing that family factors listed in this study influence depressive symptoms not only in a direct way but also through the intermediate of extroversion and psychoticism. However, once the neuroticism trait was put into the multivariable model, regression coefficient estimates for family factors were substantially reduced, though they remained significant, whereas those for neuroticism were not substantially diminished. These results indicate that neuroticism has a partial mediation effect on the relationship between family adversities and depressive symptoms.

Discussion

There are three main findings in this study. First, although many ‘external’ family factors in terms of dysfunctional parenting, poor family functioning, and poor family economic status were associated with depressive symptoms among female adolescents, these factors accounted for only a small part of the variance. By contrast, the ‘internal’ personality factors, especially for the neuroticism, showed a strong effect on and explained nearly half of the variance of depressive symptoms. Second, dysfunctional parenting influences girls’ depressive symptoms not only through a direct pathway but also through the intermediate of high levels of psychoticism and low levels of extroversion personality traits. However, an elevated neuroticism appeared to act as a mediator so that direct effects of dysfunctional parenting on depressive symptoms substantially diminished in girls with high levels of neuroticism. Finally, the roles of personality traits on the relationship between some other family adversities (i.e., family dysfunctioning and poor economic status) and depressive symptoms were similar to that between dysfunctional parenting and depressive symptoms.

It is interesting to find that the neuroticism trait explained the most variation of depressive symptoms (around 50%) among all the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ psychosocial factors, while others accounted for relatively little (less than 10%). Moreover, neuroticism also accounted for approximately one-half variation on the mediation pathway of family adversities to depressive symptoms even though the mediational effect of neuroticism was not full. Although one previous study claimed that personality accounts for a small part of the association between parental behavior and affective symptoms in an adult sample [35], our finding, in some degree, agrees with and is supported by a twin study which indicated that neuroticism shared with genetic factors in contributing to a substantial range of one-third to one-half the variation of genetic risk for internalizing disorders; and individual-specific environmental correlations between neuroticism and internalizing disorders were low [36].

This study further suggested that there are distinct roles for different personality traits on the relationship. Low levels of extroversion and high levels of psychoticism appear to provide another pathway in girls to develop depressive symptoms in addition to the direct effects of family adversities. Although from a recent outlook [6], these results might reflect that the two personality traits not only act as mediators but also play as confounders if interest is restricted to the pathway of family adversities to depressive symptoms. However, the personality traits did not produce mediational effects based on the traditional point of view [34] because effects of family adversities were not attenuated in the multivariable models. We also cannot cull out the possibility that there is another scenario where these personality traits act as an antecedent due to the cross-sectional design of this study. Nevertheless, based on the assumption of developmental context of early family experiences molding an individual’s personality, it is less likely for extroversion and psychoticism to act as antecedents.

Accordingly, dysfunctional parenting or other family difficulties in this study appear to dispose the subjects to an elevated level of neuroticism, which then predisposes them to the development of depressive symptoms. Since the neuroticism trait accounts for a major part of the variance of depressive symptoms and the direct effects of family adversities on depressive symptoms were substantially lowered when taking neuroticism into account, it is better to regard it as a mediator, rather than a confounder, in the relationship between family adversities and depressive symptoms. These results are consistent with previous studies [23,37] and further demonstrate that the mediation effect of dysfunctional personality occurs only with neuroticism, but not with extroversion or psychoticism early in late adolescence.

Some previous studies have suggested that maternal parenting behavior showed a greater effect on personality than that of paternal parenting behavior [17,38,39] so that maternal care and personality variables were additive and independent risk factors in predicting a lifetime history of depression [37]. Our results, in contrast, showed that influences of maternal and paternal parenting on personality and depressive symptoms were similar. Both low parental care and overprotection were associated with high levels of neuroticism and psychoticism and exacerbated depressive symptoms. These results demonstrated that, on the one hand, paternal factors were as important as maternal factors in girls’ developing depressive symptoms during late adolescence, which is consistent with a recent review article for youth depression in the family context [40]. On the other hand, the apparent effect of overprotection on depressive symptoms in this study, which is more common in Western countries than conservative societies, may reflect the consequence of highly occidentalizing of Taiwan.

Poor family functioning and economic status, like dysfunctional parenting, were associated with females’ depressive symptoms. These relationships could also be mediated by high levels of neuroticism, suggesting a similar etiology among family adversities toward the development of depressive symptoms. They might either generate a cascade of stress reactions in a similar mechanism, or closely interact to make depressive symptoms occur [5]. Additionally, although the present result agrees with another study 41 in showing that marital status displays little effect on girls’ depressive symptoms and the association did not affect by any personality trait, more detailed categories and analyses for marital status of parents on youth’s depression are needed to clarify their relationships.

Limitations and Methodological Considerations

Due to our cross-sectional study design, there might be possibilities for the CES-D and JEPQ getting the information upon the same status conditions or constructs, which may also influence girls’ recollection of parenting or other family adversities. Moreover, the strong hypothesis that family adversities generate effects of personality traits or depressive symptoms might be questionable. Nonetheless, the direction of causation modeling in a cross-sectional analysis between parenting and psychological distress in female twins revealed that parental behavior might better be regarded as a cause of psychological distress than the reverse model [42].

In addition, although the enrollment of only female adolescents in the present study might limit its generalization to male subjects, it provided some methodological advantages. First, adolescence is a period when the prevalence of depressive symptoms started dramatically increasing among individuals, especially for females [43]. A better understanding of the relationships between parenting experiences and personality traits and depressive symptoms is helpful for the prevention or intervention of psychopathology in later life. Second, by late adolescence personality development is nearly complete, and so a stable personality feature can be assessed during this developmental stage. Third, although there is still no sufficient evidence demonstrating that the relationship between parenting behaviors and the development of personality traits is genderspecific, restricting subjects to only female adolescents in this study avoids possible mediation effects of gender on such relationship. Fourth, since the PBI is a self-reporting questionnaire that elicits memory-based answers about how subjects were reared during their first 16 years, our 16-to-18-year-old subjects were less likely than adults to bring the ‘recall bias’ into the study when responding to the instrument.

Implications and Conclusion

Our findings demonstrated that the complicated mechanism between family adversities and personality traits on depressive symptoms could have effect among females early to late adolescence. Prevention or intervention programs for female depression should commence around the time of adolescence or earlier. In specific, an effective program should consider addressing high levels of neuroticism and related genetic factors sharing with neuroticism and depressive symptoms. Additionally, since personality was affected not only by dysfunctional parenting but also a variety of family adversities such as poor family functioning and family economic status, clinicians need to have a broader view of these interrelated factors in dealing with family issues.

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Professors Shu B.-C. and Chen W. J. for permitting our use of the Chinese version of the PBI, FACESIII, and JEPQ. The author also acknowledges the assistance of Huang B.-H., Liaw S.-P., and Hsin P.-M. for their help in data collection and analysis.

References

1. Eberhart NK, Shih JH, Hammen CL, Brennan PA. Understanding the sex difference in vulnerability to adolescent depression: an examination of child and parent characteristics. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2006; 34: 495-508.
2. Yang HJ, Chiu YJ, Soong WT, Chen WJ. The roles of personality traits and negative life events on the episodes of depressive symptoms in nonreferred adolescents: a 1-year follow-up study. J Adolesc Health. 2008; 42: 378-385.
3. Sagrestano LM, Paikoff RL, Holmbeck GN, Fendrich M. A longitudinal examination of familial risk factors for depression among inner-city African American adolescents. J Fam Psychol. 2003; 17: 108-120.
4. Garber J. Depression in children and adolescents: linking risk research and prevention. Am J Prev Med. 2006; 31: S104-125.
5. Conger RD, Conger KJ, Elder GH Jr, Lorenz FO, Simons RL, Whitbeck LB. A family process model of economic hardship and adjustment of early adolescent boys. Child Dev. 1992; 63: 526-541.
6. Susser E, Schwartz S, Morabia A, Bromet EJ. Searching for the Causes of Mental Disorders. In: Susser E, Schwartz S, Morabia A, Bromet EJ, eds. Psychiatric Epidemiology: Searching for the Causes of Mental Disorders. Oxford University Press, New York. 2006: 25-30.
7. Kitamura T, Toda MA, Shima S, Sugawara M. Early loss of parents and early rearing experience among women with antenatal depression. J Psychosom Obstet Gynaecol. 1994; 15: 133-139.
8. Parker G. Parental characteristics in relation to depressive disorders. Br J Psychiatry. 1979; 134: 138-147.
9. Patton GC, Coffey C, Posterino M, Carlin JB, Wolfe R. Parental 'affectionless control' in adolescent depressive disorder. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2001; 36: 475-480.
10. Rodgers B. Reported parental behaviour and adult affective symptoms. 1. Associations and moderating factors. Psychol Med. 1996; 26: 51-61.
11. Sato T, Sakado K, Uehara T, Narita T, Hirano S, Nishioka K, et al. Dysfunctional parenting as a risk factor to lifetime depression in a sample of employed Japanese adults: evidence for the 'affectionless control' hypothesis. 1998; 28: 737-742.
12. Forehand R, Thomas AM, Wierson M, Brody G, Fauber R. Role of maternal functioning and parenting skills in adolescent functioning following parental divorce. J Abnorm Psychol. 1990; 99: 278-283.
13. Leve LD, Kim HK, Pears KC. Childhood temperament and family environment as predictors of internalizing and externalizing trajectories from ages 5 to 17. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 2005; 33: 505-520.
14. Diamond GS, Reis BF, Diamond GM, Siqueland L, Isaacs L. Attachment-based family therapy for depressed adolescents: a treatment development study. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2002; 41: 1190-1196.
15. Yang HJ, Soong WT, Kuo PH, Chang HL, Chen WJ. Using the CES-D in a two-phase survey for depressive disorders among non-referred adolescents in Taiwan: a stratum-specific likelihood ratio analysis. J Affect Disord. 2004; 82: 419-430.
16. Oshino S, Suzuki A, Ishii G, Otani K. Influences of parental rearing on the personality traits of healthy Japanese. Compr Psychiatry. 2007; 48: 465-469.
17. Reti IM, Samuels JF, Eaton WW, Bienvenu OJ 3rd, Costa PT Jr, Nestadt G. Influences of parenting on normal personality traits. Psychiatry Res. 2002; 111: 55-64.
18. Heath AC, Cloninger CR, Martin NG. Testing a model for the genetic structure of personality: a comparison of the personality systems of Cloninger and Eysenck. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1994; 66: 762-775.
19. Jang KL, McCrae RR, Angleitner A, Riemann R, Livesley WJ. Heritability of facet-level traits in a cross-cultural twin sample: support for a hierarchical model of personality. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1998; 74: 1556-1565.
20. Loehlin JC. Genes and environment in personality development. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1992.
21. Bouchard TJ Jr. Genes, environment, and personality. Science. 1994; 264: 1700-1701.
22. McGue M, Bouchard TJ Jr. Genetic and environmental influences on human behavioral differences. Annu Rev Neurosci. 1998; 21: 1-24.
23. Carter JD, Joyce PR, Mulder RT, Luty SE, Sullivan PF. Early deficient parenting in depressed outpatients is associated with personality dysfunction and not with depression subtypes. J Affect Disord. 1999; 54: 29-37.
24. Oldehinkel AJ, Veenstra R, Ormel J, de Winter AF, Verhulst FC. Temperament, parenting, and depressive symptoms in a population sample of preadolescents. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2006; 47: 684-695.
25. Susser M, Susser E. Choosing a future for epidemiology: II. From black box to Chinese boxes and eco-epidemiology. Am J Public Health. 1996; 86: 674-677.
26. Weed DL. Beyond black box epidemiology. Am J Public Health. 1998; 88: 12-14.
27. Dwairy M. Parenting styles and mental health of Palestinian-Arab adolescents in Israel. Transcult Psychiatry. 2004; 41: 233-252.
28. Dwairy M, Menshar KE. Parenting style, individuation, and mental health of Egyptian adolescents. J Adolesc. 2006; 29: 103-117.
29. Parker G, Tupling H, Brown LB. A Parental Bonding Instrument. Br J Med Psychol. 1979; 52: 1-10.
30. Wilhelm K, Niven H, Parker G, Hadzi-Pavlovic D. The stability of the Parental Bonding Instrument over a 20-year period. Psychol Med. 2005; 35: 387-393.
31. Shu B-C, Lo W-J, Lung F-W. The reliability and validity of a Chinese version of the Parental Bonding Instrument. Nurs Res. 1999; 7: 479-489 (in Chinese).
32. Olson DH, Russell CS, Sprenkle DH. Circumplex Model: Systemic Assessment and Treatment of Families. New York: Haworth Press. 1989.
33. Kuo PH, Chih YC, Soong WT, Yang HJ, Chen WJ. Assessing personality features and their relations with behavioral problems in adolescents: tridimensional personality questionnaire and Junior Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Compr Psychiat. 2004; 45: 20-28.
34. Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1986; 51: 1173-1182.
35. Rodgers B. Reported parental behaviour and adult affective symptoms. 2. Mediating factors. Psychol Med. 1996; 26: 63-77.
36. Hettema JM, Neale MC, Myers JM, Prescott CA, Kendler KS. A population-based twin study of the relationship between neuroticism and internalizing disorders. Am J Psychiatry. 2006; 163: 857-864.
37. Sato T, Uehara T, Narita T, Sakado K, Fujii Y. Parental bonding and personality in relation to a lifetime history of depression. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2000; 54: 121-130.
38. Ono Y, Yoshimura K, Mizushima H, Manki H, Yagi G, Kanba S, Nathan J. Environmental and possible genetic contributions to character dimensions of personality. Psychol Rep. 1999; 84: 689-696.
39. Pincus AL, Ruiz MA. Parental representations and dimensions of personality: empirical relations and assessment implications. J Pers Assess. 1997; 68: 436-454.
40. Sander JB, McCarty CA. Youth depression in the family context: familial risk factors and models of treatment. Clin Child Fam Psychol Rev. 2005; 8: 203-219.
41. King CA, Radpour L, Naylor MW, Segal HG, Jouriles EN. Parents' marital functioning and adolescent psychopathology. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1995; 63: 749-753.
42. Gillespie NA, Zhu G, Neale MC, Heath AC, Martin NG. Direction of causation modeling between cross-sectional measures of parenting and psychological distress in female twins. Behav Genet. 2003; 33: 383-396.
43. Angold A, Costello EJ, Worthman CM. Puberty and depression: the roles of age, pubertal status and pubertal timing. Psychol Med. 1998; 28: 51-61.