ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2017
Role of Perceived Maternal Favoritism and Disfavoritism in Adult Children's Psychological Well-Being.
Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- Receiving advice from mothers and depressive symptoms in midlife: exploring the moderating roles of gender and relationship quality.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2026Article
- Perceived parental differential treatment and internet addiction among Chinese adolescents: the mediating role of self-esteem and the moderating role of fairness perception.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Association of parental favouritism in childhood and depression in old age: a longitudinal survey.Journal of global health · 2025Article
- Digital Contact as Strain or Support: How Does Type of Contact Shape the Association Between Mother-Child Interactions and Adult Children's Depressive Symptoms in Later-Life Families?The Gerontologist · 2024Article
- Childhood Parental Disfavoritism and Chinese Adults' Psychological Well-Being in Middle and Later Life: The Moderating Effect of Gender.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
- Aging Mother-Adult Daughter Differentiation, Psychological Well-Being, and Parental Status.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Interconnected social convoys: Understanding health and well-being through linked personal networks.Advances in life course research · 2023Article
- Intergenerational Transmission of Relationship Quality in Later-Life Families.Journal of marriage and the family · 2023Article
- Sources of Intergenerational Conflict in Chinese Immigrant Families in the United States.Journal of family issues · 2022Article
- How Widowhood and Gender Shape the Impact of Maternal Favoritism on Adult Children's Psychological Well-Being.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2022Article
- Maternal Differential Treatment and Psychological Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Marital Tension and Sibling Tension?The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2021Article
- Multigenerational social support in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of family theory & review · 2020Article
- Roles of egos' and siblings' perceptions of maternal favoritism in adult children's depressive symptoms: A within-family network approach.Network science (Cambridge University Press) · 2020Article
- Sibling relationships in older adulthood: Links with loneliness and well-being.Journal of family psychology : JFP : journal of the Division of Family Psychology of the American Psychological Association (Division 43) · 2020Article
- Parent-Child Discrepancies in Perceived Parental Favoritism: Associations with Children's Internalizing and Externalizing Problems in Chinese Families.Journal of youth and adolescence · 2020Article
- Links Between Perceptions of Successes, Problems and Health Outcomes Among Adult Chinese Children: The Mediating Role of Perceptions of Parents' Feelings and Intergenerational Relationships.Frontiers in psychology · 2019Article
- Conflict with Mothers and Siblings During Caregiving: Differential Costs for Black and White Adult Children.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2018Article
- The Long Arm of Maternal Differential Treatment: Effects of Recalled and Current Favoritism on Adult Children's Psychological Well-Being.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2018Article
- Translating Basic Research on the Aging Family to Caregiving Intervention: The Case of Within-Family Differences.Innovation in aging · 2018Article
- Applying Within-Family Differences Approaches to Enhance Understanding of the Complexity of Intergenerational Relations.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe detrimental consequences of parents' differential treatment on children's well-being have been documented in earlier stages of the life course; however, little is known about this pattern in midlife. Drawing from theories of equity and social comparison, we tested whether psychological well-being was affected only by adult children's perceptions that their mothers treated some offspring in the family differently or by their perceptions that they were favored or disfavored. Further, we explored the extent to which these patterns differed by race.
methodMultilevel regression modeling was conducted using data collected from 725 adult children nested within 309 later-life families as part of the Within-Family Differences Study-II.
resultsDepressive symptoms were higher when offspring perceived that they had the most emotional closeness to mothers or the greatest conflict with mothers. Depressive symptoms were also higher when respondents identified themselves as being the children in whom the mothers were most disappointed. DISCUSSION: The findings shed new light on the role of intergenerational relations in adult children's well-being in midlife by taking into consideration the respondents' direct reports of their perceptions of their mothers' favoritism and disfavoritism. Further, the findings provide evidence that the association between maternal differentiation and psychological well-being in adulthood is stronger in Black than in White families. These patterns suggest that the association between psychological well-being and both favoritism and disfavoritism can be accounted for by processes involving social comparison rather than equity for both Black and White adult children in midlife.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.