It is well documented that intergenerational ties play important roles in adults’ well-being. However, most studies focus on the impact of individuals’ own perceptions of their ties without considering whether family members’ assessments of these ties affect well-being. We address this question using data from 296 adult children nested within 95 later-life families in which all offspring were interviewed. Applying a mixed-method within-family approach, we explored whether the effect of perceived maternal favoritism on depressive symptoms was increased when siblings shared ego’s perceptions. Multilevel regression analyses revealed that ego’s own perceptions predicted depressive symptoms, but only among daughters. Siblings’ perceptions that egos were most close to mothers did not affect the well-being of daughters or sons. Qualitative analyses suggested that differential effects of perceived favoritism by gender reflected differences in the meaning sons and daughters associated with being favored children. Favored daughters were more likely than favored sons to report that they were emotional caregivers to their mothers; this pattern was especially strong when siblings reinforced egos’ perceptions of being “best suited” for this role. These findings emphasize the salience of egos’ own perceptions, relative to those of family network members, in shaping role embracement and psychological well-being, especially among women.

中文翻译：

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自我和兄弟姐妹对母亲偏爱的看法在成年儿童抑郁症状中的作用：家庭网络方法

有充分证据表明，代际关系在成年人的幸福中发挥着重要作用。然而，大多数研究都关注个人对其关系的看法的影响，而没有考虑家庭成员对这些关系的评估是否会影响幸福感。我们使用来自 95 个晚年家庭的 296 名成年子女的数据来解决这个问题，其中所有后代都接受了采访。应用家庭内的混合方法，我们探讨了当兄弟姐妹分享自我的感知时，感知到的母亲偏爱对抑郁症状的影响是否增加。多层次回归分析表明，自我的感知可以预测抑郁症状，但仅限于女儿。兄弟姐妹认为自我最接近母亲的看法并没有影响女儿或儿子的幸福。定性分析表明，感知偏爱的性别差异反映了与被偏爱的孩子相关的儿子和女儿的意义差异。受宠女儿比受宠儿子更有可能报告说她们是母亲的情感照顾者；当兄弟姐妹强化自我对“最适合”这个角色的看法时，这种模式尤其强烈。这些发现强调了自我认知相对于家庭网络成员的认知在塑造角色包容和心理健康方面的重要性，尤其是在女性中。受宠女儿比受宠儿子更有可能报告说她们是母亲的情感照顾者；当兄弟姐妹强化自我对“最适合”这个角色的看法时，这种模式尤其强烈。这些发现强调了自我认知相对于家庭网络成员的认知在塑造角色包容和心理健康方面的重要性，尤其是在女性中。受宠女儿比受宠儿子更有可能报告说她们是母亲的情感照顾者；当兄弟姐妹强化自我对“最适合”这个角色的看法时，这种模式尤其强烈。这些发现强调了自我认知相对于家庭网络成员的认知在塑造角色包容和心理健康方面的重要性，尤其是在女性中。