Adult mother-daughter relationships and psychological well-being: Attachment to mothers, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem

Abstract

This study examined how daughter's reported quality of their mother-daughter relationships during childhood and adulthood is related to their psychological well-being (depressive symptoms and self-esteem). A cross-sectional sample of 363 women, age 26 to 35 years, completed questionnaires. The association between the quality of daughters' relationships with their mothers and their psychological well-being depended on the daughters' marital and parental status. Regression estimates suggested that among single daughters and married daughters with children, childhood attachment dimensions (avoidance and anxiety) significantly contributed to psychological well-being, even after controlling for the effects of current closeness and excessive dependence. Current closeness, and excessive care seeking and care giving to their mother contributed to the psychological well-being of single daughters and married daughters without children, even after controlling for the effects of childhood attachment.