Parental bonding styles in schizophrenia, depressive and bipolar patients: a comparative study

Abstract

Background Numerous bio-psychosocial factors play a role in the etiology of psychiatric disorders. In this regard, the relationship between parents and their children is significantly involved in developing the offspring mental health. However, there is no clear-cut answer as to which parental bonding style is more strongly associated with psychiatric diseases of patients. This study aimed to compare parental bonding styles in patients with schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder in Bushehr province, Iran in 2018. Methods In this cross-sectional comparative study, 130 patients with schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder who referred to four outpatients psychiatric centers in Bushehr were selected using quota sampling. The patients were assessed and compared in terms of parental bonding styles. Data were collected using a valid and reliable parental bonding instrument (PBI). Data were analyzed using SPSS software (ver. 22), Chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests at a significant level of 0.05. Results Results showed that the optimal parental bonding style (low control, high care) in bipolar disorder (43.05%), major depression (47.7%), and schizophrenia (38.5%) was the most prevalent style of parental bonding; however, 62.30% of the above patients suffered from inefficient paternal bonding styles and 51.53% from inefficient maternal bonding styles. Furthermore, the patients’ maternal bonding styles were significantly different (p = 0.007) while their paternal bonding styles did not show any significant differences (p = 0.848). Conclusions Most of the patients with psychiatric disorders were affected by ineffective parenting styles. The results also confirmed that despite the several bio-psycho-social factors involved in the development of psychiatric disorders, the crucial roles of parents, especially mothers, should not be ignored. It was further suggested that parents and parental bonding were important and fundamental factors for mental health promotion.

Parental Bonding and Children’s Psychopathology: A Transgenerational View Point

“…While ineffective paternal parenting with low levels of care and protection were found in most patients with mood disorders (depressive and bipolar) and schizophrenia, low levels of maternal protection and care prevailed in mood disorders, ineffective maternal parenting related to affectionate constraint in schizophrenia and high levels of parental control were found in patients with bipolar disorder [37].…”

“…In previously cited studies that affirmed the relationship between parenting and psychopathology, data were not examined on the basis of child gender, and samples were basically homogenous but with a slight female prevalence (from 54 to 61%) [10,18,23,24] and only in a few cases was there a male prevalence [37,56,57]. Other studies examined the gender influence.…”

“…Abbaspour and colleagues [37] investigated parenting styles of patients with schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder. The study found high levels of control in patients with bipolar disorder compared with other disorders.…”

The association of different parenting styles among depressed parents and their offspring’s depression and anxiety: a cross-sectional study

“…The above findings suggest that the parenting status among depressed parents is worrying. Parental depressive symptoms were correlated with negative family atmosphere and were predictive of children’s inattentive and hyperactive symptoms, depression, and anxiety [ 46 , 47 ]. Our findings revealed the significance and urgency of providing parenting interventions to depressed parents.…”

Bipolar Affective Disorder: The Psychodynamic Approach of Etiology

“…A recently published comparative study examines parenting style as an important risk factor associated with psychiatric disorders (Abbaspour, Bahreini, Akaberian, & Mirzaei, 2021). The study compares parental styles in 130 patients suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or depression using the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI) to analyze the data.…”