Parent-child communication and third generation's difficulties: Roles of parental depression and self-efficacy.

This study examines whether parents' past communication with their own parents is associated with children's psychological difficulties and whether this association is mediated by parents' depression and self-efficacy. Evidence of the intergenerational transmission of parent-child relationships is well-documented in the literature, but few studies have explored the intergenerational paths between grandparents' and parents' (first and second generations, G1-G2, respectively) communication, parents' depression and sense of efficacy, and children's (third generation, G3) psychological difficulties. Drawing on participants from Fast Track, a multisite longitudinal study, the present analyses included data from 360 original children, now parents (54% fathers, mean age = 34), who completed measures about their own depression and self-efficacy as well as their children's psychological and behavioral difficulties; during childhood (mean age = 10) these same parents had reported on communication with their G1 parents. Running mediation path analyses, we discovered that G1G2 communication was significantly related to G2's depression and emotional and parental self-efficacy. No direct associations between G1G2 communication and G3's psychological difficulties were found, nor did G2's emotional and parental self-efficacy mediate this path across generations. Nevertheless, G2's emotional and parental self-efficacy were significantly associated with G3's psychological difficulties, showing evidence of two generations and not three generations effects. By focusing on three generations, the present study extends knowledge about the critical role of G1 and G2 relationship quality and parenting on the next generation's psychological development and well-being. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

Duke Scholars

Author Jennifer Lansford Sanford School of Public Policy

Author Kenneth A. Dodge Sanford School of Public Policy

Author Laura Gorla  

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