Abstract
The association between childhood gender atypical behavior (GAB) i.e. behavior traditionally considered more typical for children of the opposite sex, and adult psychiatric symptoms as well as cold or over-controlling parenting style as a moderator of the association were studied in a sample of 1767 Finnish participants aged 33 to 43 years (M = 37.5). Participants completed the Gender Identity/Gender Role Questionnaire, the Brief Symptom Inventory 18, and the Measure of Parenting Style. Regression analyses showed that women recalled more GAB than men did, and that participants who recalled more GAB reported significantly more psychiatric symptoms. Negative parenting style was associated with psychiatric symptoms. Structural equation modeling showed that parenting style significantly moderated the association between childhood GAB and adult psychiatric symptoms with positive parenting reducing the association and negative parenting sustaining it.
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Acknowledgements
This research was financed by Grant No. 210298 from the Academy of Finland and a Centre of Excellence Grant from the Stiftelsen för Åbo Akademi—Foundation and a personal grant (Katarina Alanko) from Signe and Ane Gyllenberg foundation.
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Alanko, K., Santtila, P., Harlaar, N. et al. The Association Between Childhood Gender Atypical Behavior and Adult Psychiatric Symptoms is Moderated by Parenting Style. Sex Roles 58, 837–847 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9395-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-008-9395-5