Exploring Parent-Child Traits and Relationship Quality: A Network Study

Abstract

Big five and dark triad personality traits are likely to influence the perceived quality of the parent-child relationship, as they can impact the behavior of family members and parenting styles. The main objective of this study was to analyze how adult children's and parents' personality traits affect the perceived quality of the parent-child relationship within dyadic interactions. The results revealed that parents' agreeableness and psychopathy had positive or negative effects on children's positive behaviors and feelings toward their parents, respectively. Moreover, mothers' and fathers' positive behaviors and feelings toward their children were positively or negatively associated, respectively, with children's conscientiousness and psychopathy. Furthermore, network analyses demonstrated that the impact of parents' emotional stability and psychopathy on children's perceived quality of the parent-child relationship varied depending on the gender of the parents. Thus, the relationship between personality traits and the perceived quality of the parent-child relationship is influenced by family roles, revealing a complex and variable structure in different dyadic family relationships.