Grown kids affect parental mental health

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Aug. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers suggest parents react more strongly to their grown children's failures rather than their children's successes.

Karen Fingerman of Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind., and colleagues asked 633 middle-age Philadelphia parents to compare each of their grown children's achievements in relationships, family life, education and career to their children's peers, and to answer questions about their own psychological well-being, their relationships with their children and the specific problems children may have had.

The researchers find 68 percent of parents had at least one grown child suffering at least one problem in the last two years, while 49 percent of parents said at least one of their children was highly successful, 60 percent say they had a mix of successful and less successful children, 17 percent say they had no children suffering problems and 15 percent say they had no children they considered to be above average on life achievements.

Having even one problematic child had a negative impact on their mental health, even if the other children were successful," Fingerman says in a statement. "Simply having at least one successful child was not associated with better well-being."

The findings were presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association in San Diego.