Do perceived parenting styles influence stress coping in patients with major depressive disorders

Parenting styles can influence an individual's ability to cope with stress; consequently, coping strategies may moderate the interaction between stress and psychiatric disorders. The correlation between perceived parenting styles and stress-coping strategies in 50 outpatients in remission from major depressive disorders was investigated. Using multiple regression analysis including symptoms, gender and age of subjects as independent variables, maternal care and male gender were significant variables for predicting task-oriented coping strategies (p<0.05). Low maternal care and highly overprotective parenting were significant variables for predicting emotion-oriented coping strategies (p<0.05). These findings suggest that perceived parenting styles of the mother experienced in childhood may be related to stress-coping styles in adulthood. It should nevertheless be considered whether parents’ actual child-rearing methods affect their offspring's ability to cope with stress or whether an individual who retrospectively perceives a lack of parental affection tends to use more emotion-oriented coping and less task-oriented coping. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.