The Role of Psychological Resilience and Family Dysfunction in the Relationship Between Parental Behavioural Addictions and Adult Mental Health

Abstract

The current study assesses the mediating role that family dysfunction and psychological resilience have in the relationship between growing up with a parent with parental addictions and developing mental health difficulties and/or addiction in adulthood. Participants included 292 adults (76.1% women), who completed an online questionnaire reporting on whether their parent(s) had behavioural addictions, their family environment during childhood, the degree of substance and behaviours dependence, and psychological symptoms and psychological resilience in the present. It was found that parental behavioural addictions were linked to more disruptive family environments during childhood and that disruptive family environments were then linked to reduced levels of psychological resilience, which in turn were linked to lower levels of mental health. Overall, the results suggest that a disruptive family environment during childhood together with psychological resilience seem to play a key role when looking at long–term negative impact of parental behavioural addictions.