IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v20y2023i4p3313-d1067628.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Transition to Adulthood in Children of Depressed Parents: Long-Term Follow-Up Data from the Family Talk Preventive Intervention Project

Author

Listed:
  • Taylor L. Myers

    (Wellesley Centers for Women, Wellesley College, 106 Central St., Wellesley, MA 02481, USA)

  • Tracy R. G. Gladstone

    (Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences, School of Public Health, Brown University, 121 South Main St., Providence, RI 02903, USA)

  • William R. Beardslee

    (Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA)

Abstract

Little is known about the effects of parental depression on offspring as they transition to adulthood—a challenging time developmentally, when late adolescents must separate from home, achieve intimate relationships, and develop a sense of identity. We present long-term quantitative and qualitative data from early adolescents with a depressed parent who were randomized to one of two family-based preventive interventions and followed over time, across the transition to young adulthood. Specifically, we present clinical measures of psychopathology and Likert-scale questionnaire data from young adults and their parents regarding the transition to adulthood and perceptions of the interventions. We also report in-depth qualitative interview data from young adults about the effects of parental depression on their transition to adulthood. Findings suggest that leaving home, establishing relationships, and coping with stressors may be challenging for emerging adults. Furthermore, the interviews highlight the importance of siblings, the burden of parental depression, and the development of self-understanding and empathy in young adults who grew up with a depressed parent. Data suggest that clinicians, policy makers, educators, and employers must address the preventive and clinical needs of young people and their families as they transition to young adulthood after growing up with depressed parents.

Suggested Citation

  • Taylor L. Myers & Tracy R. G. Gladstone & William R. Beardslee, 2023. "The Transition to Adulthood in Children of Depressed Parents: Long-Term Follow-Up Data from the Family Talk Preventive Intervention Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-17, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3313-:d:1067628
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3313/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/4/3313/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Letizia Mencarini & Elena Meroni & Chiara Pronzato, 2012. "Leaving Mum Alone? The Effect of Parental Separation on Children’s Decisions to Leave Home," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 28(3), pages 337-357, August.
    2. Andrzej Śliwerski & Karolina Kossakowska & Karolina Jarecka & Julita Świtalska & Eleonora Bielawska-Batorowicz, 2020. "The Effect of Maternal Depression on Infant Attachment: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-42, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ina S Santos & Cauane Blumenberg & Tiago N Munhoz & Alicia Matijasevich & Hernane G Santos Júnior & Letícia Marques dos Santos & Luciano L Correia & Marta Rovery de Souza & Pedro IC Lira & Caroline , 2023. "Course of depression during the first 2 years postpartum among Brazilian women enrolled in a conditional cash transfer program," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 69(5), pages 1193-1201, August.
    2. Marcantonio Caltabiano & Silvia Meggiolaro & Valentina Tocchioni, 2023. "The impact of parental separation on the pattern of transition to adulthood in Italy," Econometrics Working Papers Archive 2023_07, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Statistica, Informatica, Applicazioni "G. Parenti".
    3. Hanna Przybyła-Basista & Elżbieta Kwiecińska & Michalina Ilska, 2020. "Body Acceptance by Pregnant Women and Their Attitudes toward Pregnancy and Maternity as Predictors of Prenatal Depression," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Natalia Ruiz-Segovia & Maria Fe Rodriguez-Muñoz & Maria Eugenia Olivares & Nuria Izquierdo & Pluvio Coronado & Huynh-Nhu Le, 2021. "Healthy Moms and Babies Preventive Psychological Intervention Application: A Study Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Marco Tosi, 2017. "Age norms, family relationships, and home leaving in Italy," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(9), pages 281-306.
    6. Cristina Sechi & Laura Elvira Prino & Luca Rollé & Loredana Lucarelli & Laura Vismara, 2021. "Maternal Attachment Representations during Pregnancy, Perinatal Maternal Depression, and Parenting Stress: Relations to Child’s Attachment," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Bernhard Nauck & Nicolai Gröpler & Chin-Chun Yi, 2017. "How kinship systems and welfare regimes shape leaving home: A comparative study of the United States, Germany, Taiwan, and China," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(38), pages 1109-1148.
    8. Linda S. Pagani & Kianoush Harandian & Beatrice Necsa & Marie-Josée Harbec, 2023. "Prospective Associations between Maternal Depressive Symptoms during Early Infancy and Growth Deficiency from Childhood to Adolescence," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(23), pages 1-13, November.
    9. Bárbara Caetano & Mariana Branquinho & Maria Cristina Canavarro & Ana Fonseca, 2022. "Mattering and Depressive Symptoms in Portuguese Postpartum Women: The Indirect Effect of Loneliness," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-11, September.
    10. Cecilia Peñacoba Puente & Carlos Suso-Ribera & Sheila Blanco Rico & Dolores Marín & Jesús San Román Montero & Patricia Catalá, 2021. "Is the Association between Postpartum Depression and Early Maternal–Infant Relationships Contextually Determined by Avoidant Coping in the Mother?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-14, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:4:p:3313-:d:1067628. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.