Positive Emotions in Response to Parental Illness: The Impact of Dispositional Gratitude on Depression and Anxiety in the Children of Parents With an Illness

Existing literature suggests that the children of ill parents are susceptible to anxiety and depression (Armistead, Klein, & Forehand, 1995; Hirsch, Moos, & Reischl, 1985). However, some may respond to threatening circumstances such as chronic illness or grief with positive emotions and finding benefits, including appreciation of life and greater emotional strength (Affleck & Tennen, 1996; Oltjenbruns, 1991). Furthermore, the child's subjective experience of parental illness can be powerful in predicting the child's ability to function adaptively in the face of this stressor (Compas et al., 1994; Kotchick et al., 1997). The current study explored the adolescent child response to parental illness by examining the potential impact of dispositional gratitude, family variables, and objective and subjective characteristics of parental illness on adolescent child depression and anxiety. 136 college students (72 healthy parents, 64 ill parents) were asked to complete a series of self-report measures examining dispositional gratitude, family quality of life, depression, and anxiety. Results indicate that in comparison to the healthy parent group, the ill parent group experienced lower family quality of life and trended towards higher anxiety levels. Within the ill parent group, chronic onset of parental illness was associated with higher depression scores than acute onset, number of parental hospitalizations was directly associated with anxiety scores, and parental involvement was inversely associated with anxiety scores. Dispositional gratitude was not a mediator between parental health status and internalizing symptoms; however, parental health status moderated the relationship between dispositional gratitude and adolescent child anxiety and depression. This study contributes to our understanding of the child's experience of parental illness and speaks to the need to explore this area further.