When Childhood Control Slips Away: How Parental Affection and Abuse Shape Adult Anxiety and Depression

Childhood parental affection and abuse may shape vulnerability to generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and major depressive disorder (MDD) in adulthood through personal mastery and perceived constraints. This three-wave 18-year longitudinal study tested whether sense-of-control dimensions mediated the effects of early parental experiences on later GAD and MDD symptoms (N = 3294; 54.9% women; mean age = 45.6 years, SD = 11.4, range = 20-74 years; 89.7% White compared to African American, Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American and other). Structural equation models showed that lower parental affection and higher abuse at Time 1 predicted greater perceived constraints at Time 2 (Cohen's d = -0.396 to 0.510), which in turn predicted greater GAD and MDD severity at Time 3 (d = 0.463 to 0.754). Perceived constraints significantly mediated the links between childhood parental experiences and adult symptom severity for both GAD (d = -0.269-0.319; percentage mediated: 30.0%-69.2%) and MDD (d = -0.343-0.422; 11.0%-44.9%), whereas mastery did not. Mediated effects were somewhat stronger for maternal (11.4%-69.2%) than paternal (11.0%-51.5%) experiences. These findings underscore perceived constraints as a critical mechanism linking childhood parental experiences to later anxiety and depression. Interventions that address maladaptive beliefs about sense of control may improve long-term outcomes for adults exposed to early adversity.