Relations among adults' remembrances of parental acceptance-rejection in childhood, self-reported psychological adjustment, and adult psychopathology

AimsThe aim of the study was to examine relationships among recollections of maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection in childhood and the level of psychological adjustment among adults diagnosed with schizophrenia, social anxiety, and nonclinical control. The study focused primarily on adults with schizophrenia and social anxiety in comparison to nonclinical adults.MethodsFifty-three adults diagnosed with schizophrenia, 51 adults with self-reported social anxiety, and 147 nonclinical controls between the ages of 18 and 62 participated in the study. Data were collected using adult versions of the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire for mothers and for fathers, Personality Assessment Questionnaire, Brief Symptom Inventory, Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale, and the Demographic Information Form.ResultsFindings of analyses showed that participants in the schizophrenia and social anxiety groups remembered having experienced significantly more maternal rejection in childhood than did the nonclinical group. Patient with schizophrenia also reported more recollections of paternal rejection than the nonclinical group. Both clinical groups self-reported more psychological maladjustment than did the nonclinical group. Regression analysis indicated that even though the overall psychological adjustment of adults diagnosed with schizophrenia was predicted by both maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection, psychological adjustment of adults in the social anxiety group was predicted only by maternal (but not paternal) acceptance-rejection.ConclusionThis study provides evidence about the long-lasting associations between adults' recollections of parental acceptance-rejection in childhood and their psychological adjustment in two mental disorders, in which genetic and environmental factors have a different weight.