Favorite Child More Likely to be Depressed

Although parents say that they have equal affection towards their children, sometimes children still feel that one of them is their parents' apple of the eye. Unfortunately, parents and children should not allow favoritism to run in the family because it could be unhealthy, not just in their relationship but to health as well.

A new study revealed that the most favorite child is more likely to be depressed, Medical News Today reported. The study, headed by Jill Suitor, a professor of sociology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, involved 725 adult children from 309 families. They were part of the Within-Family Differences Study -- a longitudinal project that aims to get a better understanding about the relationship between parents and their adult children.

Mothers in each family were between 65 to 75 years old when they study began in 2001. The data on children's perceptions of favoritism and disfavoritism from mothers were assessed seven years apart. The researchers considered these four factors in measuring favoritism and disfavoritism: children's perception of emotional closeness with their mother, their perception of conflict, their perception of pride from their mother and their perception of disappointment. They also assessed depressive symptoms among children.

The result might be surprising because the team found out that the highest incidents of depressive symptoms came from children who believed that they were closer to their mom compared to their siblings.

"There is a cost for those who perceive they are the closest emotionally to their mothers, and these children report higher depressive symptoms, as do those who experience the greatest conflict with their mothers or who believe they are the children in whom their mothers are the most disappointed," Suitor said, per Inquisitr.

"This cost comes from higher sibling tension experienced by adult children who are favored for emotional closeness, or the greater feelings of responsibility for the emotional care of their older mothers," explained Megan Gilligan, assistant professor in human development and family studies at Iowa State University and former Purdue graduate, who collaborated on the research.

The other group of adult children who were at high risk of depression were the siblings who felt that they were the most disappointing child compared to their siblings.

The team also analyzed their findings by race and they found out that black families demonstrated a closer relationship between older moms and adult children. Around a quarter of the families in the study were black.

"What we found suggests that the black offspring were particularly distressed when they, as opposed to their siblings, were the children in whom mothers were most disappointed," Suitor said.

"These patterns suggest that the association between psychological well-being and both favoritism and disfavoritism can be accounted for by processes involving social comparison rather than equity for both black and white adult children in midlife," according to the report.

The study was published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.