title: Moderators of Mother's Problems on Middle-Aged Offspring Depressive Symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Conservation of Resources (COR) theory postulates that individuals utilize various resources to manage stressful circumstances. Children employ many resources to cope with the problems of parents who suffer from disabilities, cognitive impairment, and functional limitations. This phenomenon is rarely explored among middle-aged offspring and their aging parents.
  
  
  METHODS
  Drawing from the Family Exchanges Study, we focus on a sample (N = 308) of middle-aged adults (mean age = 51) whose only living parent was their mother. We use multiple regression to examine maternal support and self-reported health as moderators of maternal problems on offspring depressive symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participants whose mothers had few problems generally reported low levels of depressive symptoms. When mothers had high problems, results indicate a negative association between depressive symptoms and physical health. When maternal problems were high, the amount of support offspring receive from their mother had a negative association with offspring depressive symptoms. When mothers had low problems, receiving more maternal support was associated with lower depressive symptoms and receiving low support was associated with increased depressive symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Middle-aged offspring use both personal and family-based resources to buffer the psychological ramifications of their mother's problems. Our results provide a unique extension of COR theory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College. lrb207@psu.edu.
authors.forename: Lauren R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Bangerter
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, State College.
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zarit
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas, Austin.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Fingerman
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D005195:Family Relations / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011581:Psychological Tests; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D017805:Widowhood / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Depression; Family; Personal relationships; Widowhood.