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Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Mothers and their Adult Offspring: A Longitudinal Examination

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Abstract

We examined the association between maternal psychological distress during offspring’s early development and offspring’s later distress in adulthood, as well as the influence of maternal characteristics at offspring’s birth and offspring’s characteristics in adulthood on distress. Data were obtained from the British Cohort Study, a longitudinal study of children born in a one-week period in 1970. Children were followed up multiple times from birth through to age 30. Results indicate that greater symptoms of maternal psychological distress during offspring’s early childhood are associated with greater symptoms of distress in adult offspring. A large component of this association is indirect, occurring through mother’s distress in later childhood and offspring’s problem behavior during adolescence. Findings that the association between maternal and offspring’s distress is more indirect than direct support arguments that early maternal distress has long-term consequences for offspring.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Social Equity and Health Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, 250 College St., Toronto, ON, Canada, M5T 1R8

    Hayley A. Hamilton

  2. Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Darcy W. Hango

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  1. Hayley A. Hamilton
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Correspondence to Hayley A. Hamilton.

Appendix

Appendix

Rutter Malaise Inventory

  1. 1.

    Often Have Backache

  2. 2.

    Tired Most of Time

  3. 3.

    Often Feel Depressed

  4. 4.

    Often Have Bad Headaches

  5. 5.

    Often Get Worried

  6. 6.

    Sleeping Difficulty

  7. 7.

    Waking Unnecessarily Early

  8. 8.

    Worn Out Worrying About Health

  9. 9.

    Often Get Into Violent Rage

  10. 10.

    Do People Annoy and Irritate

  11. 11.

    Had Twitching of Face, Head

  12. 12.

    Scared for No Good Reason

  13. 13.

    Scared to be Alone

  14. 14.

    Easily Upset or Irritated

  15. 15.

    Frightened of Going Out Alone

  16. 16.

    Constantly Keyed Up, Jittery

  17. 17.

    Suffer From Indigestion

  18. 18.

    Suffer From Upset Stomach

  19. 19.

    Is Appetite Poor

  20. 20.

    Everything Gets on Nerves

  21. 21.

    Does Heart Race

  22. 22.

    Often Have Bad Pains in Eyes

  23. 23.

    Rheumatism, Fibrositis

  24. 24.

    Had Nervous Breakdown (not included because not common to both mother and offspring measures)

Rutter A Scale (Problem Behavior Scale)

  1. 1.

    Very restless

  2. 2.

    Squirmy/fidgety

  3. 3.

    Often destroys belongings

  4. 4.

    Frequently fights with others

  5. 5.

    Not much liked by others

  6. 6.

    Often worried

  7. 7.

    Rather solitary

  8. 8.

    Irritable, quick to anger

  9. 9.

    Often appears miserable/unhappy

  10. 10.

    Twitches/mannerisms/tics

  11. 11.

    Frequently sucks thumb/fingers

  12. 12.

    Frequently bites nails/fingers

  13. 13.

    Often disobedient

  14. 14.

    Cannot settle to do things

  15. 15.

    Fearful/afraid of new things

  16. 16.

    Fussy or overparticular

  17. 17.

    Often tells lies

  18. 18.

    Bullies others

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Hamilton, H.A., Hango, D.W. Symptoms of Psychological Distress Among Mothers and their Adult Offspring: A Longitudinal Examination. J Child Fam Stud 17, 863–880 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-008-9195-0

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