Early parenting and depression: The mediating role of anger control

Applying an attachment theoretical perspective, this study examined the relationship pattern between childhood parenting experience and adulthood depression and how it was mediated by anger control. The data were based on the National Comorbidity Study Replication (2001–2003), in which 1,579 participants met DSM-IV criteria for lifetime major depressive disorder (17%) and 2,242 participants (24.2%) reported that they perceived their anger to be out of control. The mediation hypothesis was tested with logistic regression models. Results showed that childhood parenting experience was significantly related to major depressive disorder and anger control. A significant indirect effect of anger control was detected through bootstrap analysis, supporting the partial mediation hypothesis. This study represents the first attempt to examine the mediating role of anger control in the relationship between early parenting and depressive disorder. The findings of this study suggest that early parenting experience may be an important factor for consideration in research aiming to understand the sequential relationship between anger control and depression.