Comorbid Parental Psychopathology Interactions: Associations with Emerging Adult Psychological Problems

Abstract

Research has investigated the effects of parental psychopathology in young children, but few studies have examined the role that comorbid parental psychopathology within and between parents has on emerging adults. These effects can differ depending on the gender of the emerging adult and parent. The current study examined how maternal and paternal psychopathology predicted emerging adult psychopathology from the emerging adults’ perspectives by gender. To increase parsimony, the study focused on depressive, anxious, and antisocial problems. Results demonstrated that parental psychopathology was a strong predictor of the same psychopathology in emerging adults. Women and men reported moderate depressive problems when indicating high scores for both maternal antisocial and paternal anxiety problems, whereas being high in one parental problem and low in the other resulted in higher depressive problems. The findings indicated that comorbid psychopathology within and between parents may increase psychopathology in emerging adults, but some combinations may moderate effects.