ACROSS GENERATIONS--FAMILY LIFE AND MENTAL HEALTH

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In this project we propose the collection of a new panel of longitudinal data to examine continuities from previously observed adolescent and familial dimensions in one generation to adult development, parenting behavior and child outcomes 15 to 20 years later in a new generation. We follow a sample of 146 former adolescent psychiatric patients and non-patients who were studied intensively with their families between the ages of 14 and 17. Most recently, we have assessed their social and emotional development at age 24- 25, locating 100% of our former adolescent subjects, and achieving a 98% success rate in re-interviewing them. Based on our findings of extensive continuities across this 11 year span, particularly in domains such as family interaction styles and models of attachment, that are highly relevant to future parenting, we are proposing to follow this sample as they move through the phase of fife during which most people become parents. Based on detailed projections from current census data, we estimate that 91 of our subjects will parent a child who will be between 12 and 54 months of age during the next five years. We plan to examine multiple links in a model of overlapping relations from individual developmental characteristics and family interaction patterns in adolescence to: 1) Young adult personality/development, psychopathology, and social functioning (for our entire sample); 2) Qualities of parenting in adulthood, and, 3) Corresponding child outcomes (for those in our sample with children of appropriate ages). Embedded within this project are four conceptually bounded studies addressing questions about the role of serious adolescent psychopathology as a predictor of long-term risk, and about the role of individual developmental factors in mediating continuities between families of different generations. Planned multivariate data analytic techniques will focus upon identifying both direct links across generations, as well as potential mediating factors.