Psychosocial adjustment of adolescent children of a depressed, arthritic, or normal parent.

Examined the joint effects of having a parent with a psychological or physical disability and stressful life events on the mental health of 3 groups of adolescents: 16 adolescent children of a depressed parent, 16 adolescent children of a parent with rheumatoid arthritis, and 16 adolescent children of parents free from psychological or physical disability. Ss were asked to complete a battery of assessments, including the SCL-90, Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Family Environment Scale, and scales assessing life events and satisfaction with school. It was found that, in contrast to the normal group, Ss with arthritic parents reported lower self-esteem, whereas Ss with depressed parents reported lower self-esteem and more symptomatology. However, the 2 risk groups did not differ in terms of mental health or family and school adjustment. Both negative and positive life events were strongly related to poorer adjustment, but only for Ss with depressed and arthritic parents. There was a significant interaction effect of parental disability (depressed vs normal) and negative life events on symptomatology, with the Ss with depressed parents who experienced few negative life events reporting symptom levels equivalent to that of the normal group. Within-group analyses revealed that a positive familial social climate was related to better adjustment among all 3 groups: satisfactory school involvements were related to better adjustment among the depressed-parent and normal groups. (39 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)