Maltreatment and Affective and Behavioral Problems in Emerging Adults With and Without Oppositional Defiant Disorder Symptoms: Mediation by Parent–Child Relationship Quality

Abstract

The current study examined the indirect effect of maternal and paternal emotional and physical maltreatment on affective and behavioral symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) through parent–child relationship quality; gender and overall ODD symptoms were examined as moderators. Participants included 2,362 emerging adults who completed questionnaires about parental emotional and physical maltreatment, parent–child relationship quality, and affective and behavioral ODD symptoms. These characteristics were compared across parent and child gender (i.e., maternal and paternal effects as well as male and female differences) as well as participants reporting high and low ODD symptoms. In the low ODD group, indirect effects of emotional maltreatment occurred in all parent–child dyads except the mother–son dyad, whereas in the high ODD group, indirect effects occurred only in the father–son dyad. Indirect effects of physical maltreatment occurred only in the father–son dyad in the low ODD group, and only in the mother–daughter dyad on behavioral ODD symptoms in the high ODD group. The results suggest that specific parent–child gender dyads respond differently, warranting further investigation of gender effects. Moreover, emerging adults in the low ODD symptoms group demonstrated a positive association between parental maltreatment and ODD symptoms and a negative association between parent–child relationship quality and ODD symptoms, whereas those high in the high ODD symptoms group did not demonstrate these associations. That is, emerging adults reporting high ODD symptoms demonstrated no relationship between their ODD symptoms and harsh parenting, suggesting an ineffective coercive process.