This study examined the effects of parent care on the quality of adult daughter-aging parent relationships and the effects of these relationships on the mental health of daughters. One hundred ninety-six daughters who participated in the first two waves (18 months apart) of a longitudinal study of women in Wisconsin were included in this analysis. Structural equation modeling results show that providing care to a parent with both cognitive and physical impairments, but not to a parent with physical impairments only, takes a toll on the quality of the daughter-parent relationship. The quality of the daughter-parent relationship was found to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms in the daughter, and this association is largely accounted for by the daughter's self-esteem.
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