ACROSS GENERATIONS: FAMILY LIFE AND MENTAL HEALTH
Judge Baker Children’s Center, University of Virginia, State University of New York
at Stony Brook
PI: Stuart T. Hauser, M.D., Ph.D, Co-PIs: Joseph P. Allen, Ph.D, Judith A. Crowell, M.D., Co-I: J.Heidi Gralinski-Bakker, Ph.D.
In this longitudinal study, begun in 1978, we are examining long-term patterns of continuity and change in adaptive functioning and severe psychopathology in a sample of 141 early midlife adults (ages 38-43). Participants were originally assessed at age 14 as members of either a psychiatrically hospitalized cohort or a demographically similar non-patient high school cohort. In the initial project, the overarching aim was the study of trajectories of adolescent personality development (e.g., ego development, self-image, coping) and conceptually relevant family processes. Thus, adolescents were studied intensively with their families between the ages of 14 and 17.
Ongoing analyses trace individual and familial processes associated with indicators of risk and resilience during the adolescent years. In addition, we assessed social and emotional development at age 25, locating 100% of our former adolescent sample and achieving a 98% success rate in re-interviewing them. Based on findings of extensive continuities across an 11-year span, we then studied this sample as they moved through the phase of life during which most people become parents (ages 32-35), focusing on long-term predictions from: (a) adolescent psychopathology, (b) progress in key adolescent developmental tasks (e.g., success in establishing autonomy vis ‡ vis parents), (c) family dimensions (observed parental interactions with adolescents, incidence of abusive and traumatic experiences). We now assess three related new domains: mid-adult psychopathology and psychosocial adaptation; functioning in marital and parenting relationships; and outcomes in the third generation (children between 12 - 18 months and 3 - 4 years).
A new phase of our project now considers frequently neglected early midlife years (ages 38-43), studying predictors of continuity and discontinuity in psychosocial adaptation in three key midlife areas: sustaining satisfying relationships with partners and peers; providing competent parenting; maintaining a positive career trajectory. Intensive, multi-method, multi-informant assessment techniques are employed such that for each family we will have observational and/or rating data from not only the original participants, but also their parents (in adolescence), peers (at age 25), and current partners and children (at 12-18 months, 3 – 4 years, 9 years and 13 years). The unique opportunity to investigate development across the lifespan and across generations in this near completely intact at-risk and comparison sample is made possible by continued tracking and assessment of the sample at critical points in development over the past two decades.
Key Words: adult attachment, ego development, adolescence, midlife, longitudinal
Grant Support. NIMH: RO1 MH44934, Across Generations: Family Life and Mental Health
Project Site. Judge Baker Children's Center.
Project Director. J. Heidi Gralinski-Bakker, Ph.D., Judge Baker Children's Center, 3 Blackfan Circle, Boston, MA 02115. Contact Person. K.C. Haydon, B.A. Tel. No.: (617) 232-8390, ext. 2521. kchaydon@jbcc.harvard.edu
Training Opportunities. There are numerous opportunities for post-doctoral fellows, medical and graduate students, and advanced undergraduates. This is also a training site for the Clinical Research Training Program.
Representative Publications.
Allen JP, Hauser ST, Bell KL, & O'Connor TG. Longitudinal assessment of autonomy and relatedness in adolescent-family interactions as predictors of adolescent ego development and self-esteem. Child Development 1994; 65:179-184.
Allen JP, Hauser ST, & Borman-Spurell E. Attachment theory as a framework for understanding sequelae of severe adolescent psychopathology: An eleven year follow-up study. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 1996; 64: 254-263.
Gralinski JH, Safyer AW, Hauser ST, & Allen JP. Self-cognitions and expressed negative emotions during mid-adolescence: Contributions to young adult psychological adjustment. Development and Psychopathology 1995; 7:193-216.
Hauser ST. Understanding resilient outcomes: Adolescent lives across time and generations. Journal of
Adolescence 1999; 9:1-24.