Killoren, S. E., Rivero, A., Boron, D., Payton, J., Cord, C., Campione-Barr, N., & Gilligan, M. (2025). Parents’ psychological control and Latina young women’s depressive symptoms: Examining the role of perceived dyadic coping behaviors from sisters. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075241312691
This study highlights the complex relationships between family dynamics and mental health, particularly focusing on how perceived parental psychological control and sibling relationships influence depressive symptoms in Latina young women. Psychological control occurs when parents utilize behaviors such as love withdrawal, guilt, or criticism to control their children’s activities, beliefs, or emotions. The findings show the importance of decreasing psychological control from parents and negative dyadic coping behaviors from sisters to reduce Latina young women’s depressive symptoms. Dyadic coping refers to the way two individuals in a close relationship confront stress collectively by discussing their challenges and providing mutual support in managing those pressures, while collaborating to address tough circumstances. For instance, there can be supportive dyadic coping or negative dyadic coping depending on the reaction of the individual. Negative dyadic coping could be a family member becoming dismissive when someone is trying to express their emotions to them. Supportive dyadic coping may look like a sibling telling another family member about an issue and them actively listening and offering helpful advice. Unfortunately, poor mental health among Latinas has been associated with many adverse conditions including experiences of discrimination, or family cultural conflict due to differences in acculturation status.
To better understand this, researchers conducted this study with a sample of 195 Latina women ranging from 18-25 years old who have a sister. They completed a survey with various family and mental health related questions. The researchers found that young women’s perceptions of mothers' psychological control were related to depressive symptoms in Latinas, with sisters' coping behaviors modifying this association. Surprisingly, supportive dyadic coping behaviors from sisters did not always offer protection from the negative effects of mothers' psychological control. In fact, when Latina women perceived high levels of support from their sisters, the relationship between mothers’ psychological control and depressive symptoms was strengthened, which challenges the idea that supportive family relationships can buffer against psychological control from parents. It may be that co-rumination, or repeatedly discussing problems with siblings, may contribute to worsening depressive symptoms, particularly when these stressors are related to parental control. In contrast, the researchers also found that perceptions of fathers' psychological control were associated with depressive symptoms, but sibling relationship dynamics did not significantly alter this association. This might be because fathers' psychological control is less frequent or expected compared to mothers, making it more directly impactful. Interestingly, negative dyadic coping behaviors from sisters, such as ignoring or minimizing a young woman's stress, were found to be a unique risk factor for depressive symptoms. The study also revealed that older sisters reported more depressive symptoms while younger sisters reported fewer depressive symptoms, suggesting that having an older sister to lean on may provide emotional support during stressful transitions.
The findings stress the importance of sibling relationships and cultural values in shaping the mental health of Latina young women and suggest that improving communication and coping strategies within families could be crucial for supporting their mental well-being.