| Abstract: | ![]()
This research attempted to clarifythe mechanismthrough which dysfunctional parenting leads todepression in the offspring. Consistent with theorizingbyBeck (1967), we tested a three-stage causal pathway wherein dysfunctional parenting should giverise to dysfunctional attitudes in the offspring which,in turn, should give rise to depression-proneness in theoffspring. Another objective of this study was to further delineate the types of parentingbehaviors that give rise to dysfunctional attitudes inthe offspring. To this end, a large sample of collegestudents (N = 246) completed measures assessing four parenting dimensions (i.e., low care,overprotection, perfectionistic expectations, andcriticalness) as well as measures assessingdysfunctional attitudes, general depression-proneness,and current depression. Support for the depressogenic effects of allfour parenting dimensions was obtained in that eachparenting dimension correlated significantly withdysfunctional attitudes and depression tendencies in the offspring. Moreover, path analyses supportedBeck's three-stage causal model with perfectionistic andcritical parenting playing a particularly prominentrole. Last, after controlling for current depression, the partial correlations among the variables inthe three-stage model remained significant, suggestingthat the present findings were not simply the result ofa mood congruency effect. These findings illuminate additional parenting behaviors that can havedepressogenic effects and indicate that these parentingbehaviors exert their effects, at least in part, by wayof instilling dysfunctional attitudes in the offspring. |
