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Paths to Intimate Relationship Quality From Parent–Adolescent Relations and Mental Health
Author(s) -
Johnson Matthew D.,
Galambos Nancy L.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of marriage and family
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.578
H-Index - 159
eISSN - 1741-3737
pISSN - 0022-2445
DOI - 10.1111/jomf.12074
Subject(s) - psychology , mental health , longitudinal study , young adult , developmental psychology , path analysis (statistics) , quality (philosophy) , structural equation modeling , self esteem , adolescent health , quality of life (healthcare) , clinical psychology , medicine , psychiatry , pathology , philosophy , statistics , mathematics , nursing , epistemology , psychotherapist
Using a developmental systems perspective and public‐use longitudinal data from participants currently in a romantic relationship at Wave 4 of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health ( n = 2,970), the current study explored direct and indirect paths from parent–adolescent relationship quality to young adult intimate relationship quality. Structural equation modeling tested whether mental health (depressive symptoms and self‐esteem) in the transition to adulthood mediated the association between parent–adolescent relations and young adult intimate relations. The results indicated that higher quality parent–adolescent relations predicted higher self‐esteem and lower depressive symptoms during the transition to adulthood as well as higher young adult intimate relationship quality, controlling for adolescent mental health and parent–young adult relationship quality. Higher self‐esteem during the transition to adulthood was associated with greater intimate relationship quality, whereas greater depressive symptomatology predicted reduced intimate relationship quality. One significant indirect path emerged: parent–adolescent relationship quality → self‐esteem → intimate relationship quality .