Mother and adult daughter: The connection between their psychological well-being and the mother’s parental attitudes

Abstract

In psychology, attention to the study of human well-being has increased. The question is how psychological well-being transmitted from mother to daughter, if it is. Aim: to study the relation between the psychological well-being and parental attitudes of mothers with the psychological well-being of adult daughters. Hypothesis: psychological well-being is transmitted from mother to daughter both directly and through the mother’s parental attitudes, with the specificity in periods of adulthood. The sample of 111 dyad mother — daughters from Russia included two groups. The first group consisted of daughters 20–25 years (M = 22) and mothers 39–50 years (M = 45), the second — daughters 26–40 years (M = 33) and mothers 51– 65 years (M = 56). Methods: Psychological Well-being Scale (Ryff), Satisfaction with Life Scale (Diener), Fordyce Emotions Questionnaire, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, Parental Attitude Research Instrument (Schaefer, Bell). Correlation and factor analysis was conducted. Results: in general, the psychological well-being is transmitted from mother to adult daughter directly and through the mother’s parental attitudes towards equality, independence, and acceptance. However, the mother with high components of “life goal” and “positive relationships with others” has a more pronounced authoritarian control over the early-adult daughter. In daughters, this leads to a decrease of the psychological well-being, but to an increase in happiness. The psychological well-being of middle-adult daughter is correlated with that of the mother, both directly and through the mother’s attitudes towards acceptance and independence. The high psychological well-being of the late-adult mother serves as a buffer when faced with her daughter’s separation, allowing finding new aspirations.