Depression, Gender Differences and Family Relationships during Emerging Adulthood. A longitudinal study.

Abstract

Over the last three decades, older children have begun to remain in the family home for longer, and currently, most young people in Spain continue to live with their parents until well into their thirties. This means that two adult generations often live under the same roof, thus requiring a new type of family relationship. While there is some evidence regarding how family relationships influence emerging adults’ adjustment, since most of it comes from cross-sectional studies, no causal influences can be inferred. This paper has two aims. First, it seeks to examine, from a gender perspective, whether family relationships change or remain stable from the initial to the intermediate years of emerging adulthood. And second, it aims to analyze the relationship between parental behavior when emerging adults are in their early twenties and their depressive symptoms four years later. Participants were 400 emerging adults (258 women) aged between 18 and 29 (Women - Mean: 20.35; SD: 2.02 at W1 and Mean: 23.70; SD: 2.06 at W2; and Men - Mean: 20.23; SD: 2.08 at W1 and Mean: 23.57; SD: 2.14 at W2) participating in the Transition to Adulthood in Spain project. The questionnaire included sociodemographic variables (gender and age), family relationship variables (family social support, parental involvement, parental warmth, parental support for autonomy and parental behavioral and psychological control) and emerging adults’ depressive symptoms. Our results revealed a high level of relative stability in the scores obtained by all participants (men and women) for all the variables studied. Regarding absolute stability, high continuity was observed in parental support for autonomy and parental involvement, although there was a decrease in emerging adults’ perceptions of family social support, parental warmth and control. Women perceived greater parental involvement and parental warmth than men, while men perceived a higher level of behavioral control. Family control at wave 1 correlated positively with depressive symptoms at wave 2; all other family variables correlated negatively. The results also revealed a moderating effect of parental involvement on the association between behavioral control at wave 1 and depressive symptoms at wave 2. Our findings provide evidence that, in 21st century Spain, differences still exist between men and women in the way they perceive family relationships, probably as a reflection of gender-based differences in their upbringing which continue to persist, even in this day and age. Moreover, among both men and women, parental involvement seems to be a protective factor for depressive symptoms among emerging adults’ from overbearing families. This study highlights the need for social policies aimed at fostering positive parenting during emerging adulthood. It also underscores the need for longitudinal studies as a means of shedding light on the changes which take place in the family context during this developmental stage, and how they influence emerging adults’ adjustment.