title: Young adults' recollections of parental bonds--does satisfaction with partner relationships mediate the longitudinal association with mental disorders?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recollections of cold and overprotective behaviors from parents have been hypothesized to lead to the presence of mental disorders in young adulthood through their detrimental effects on individuals' satisfaction in later partner relationships. Previous studies have not explicitly tested, however, whether partner relationship satisfaction mediates the longitudinal relationship from parental bonds to DSM-III-R disorders in young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined: (1) whether recollections of parental bonds in the first 16 years of life were related to the prevalence of DSM-III-R mental disorders in young adulthood, and (2) whether young adults' satisfaction with current partner relationships mediated these links. Data were used from 1,581 Dutch young adults aged 18-34 years, who were interviewed in three waves (1996, 1997, and 1999) of a nationwide epidemiological study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Structural Equation Models demonstrated that recollections of caring, non-intrusive parenting behaviors were significantly, negatively associated with the prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders (but not substance disorders) in young adulthood. The satisfaction with current partner relationships did not mediate these negative associations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results replicate and extend earlier findings from the National Comorbidity Survey (Enns et al. 2002), demonstrating that mental disorders are directly related to people's recollections of parental care and overprotection. Low-quality parental bonds were only related to internalizing types of psychopathology, however, and were of a modest strength. Results may indicate that there is relatively little cross-relationship continuity in the experience of intimacy between relationships with parents and with partners.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Family & Child Care Studies, Nijmegen University, P.O. Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. g.overbeek@ped.kun.nl
authors.forename: Geertjan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Overbeek
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Vollebergh
authors.forename: Wim
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meeus
authors.forename: Ron
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Graaf
authors.forename: Rutger C M E
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Engels
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D015995:Prevalence; D012747:Sexual Partners / Q000523:psychology*