Dynamics of parental criticism and emerging adult emotional functioning: Associations with depression.

Journal of Family Psychology, Vol 36(8), Dec 2022, 1451-1461; doi:10.1037/fam0001022Perceived parental criticism is an important measure of the family emotional environment, linked to a variety of psychological difficulties in emerging adults (EAs) and traditionally assessed at a single timepoint. Our study is the first to examine perceived parental criticism as a dynamic construct that fluctuates and interacts with emerging adult (EA) affect across daily life. EAs (N = 141; ages 18–22; Mage = 19.94, 84.5% women) completed a measure of baseline depression symptoms and daily assessments of perceived parental criticism, anger, anxiety, shame, sadness, and happiness across 30 days. Within-person results revealed that previous day perceived parental criticism predicted subsequent day EA anger (but not vice versa). This cross-lagged association only emerged for anger and not other emotions. Additionally, depression moderated this association, with higher depression symptoms increasing the strength of the association. Between-person results revealed that parental criticism was positively associated with mean/trait anger, anxiety, shame, sadness, but not happiness, as well as affect reactivity (innovation variance) for anger. Associations with affect inertia were not significant. Together, these findings suggest parental criticism is more strongly related to negative than positive emotions, is proximally associated with anger in particular, especially among EAs with increased depr...
Source: Journal of Family Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research