Timeliness of the developmental tasks in adulthood among children of mothers suffering from schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: Being raised by a mother suffering from schizophrenia may affect the fulfilment of developmental tasks. The aim of the study was to determine which psychological factors (attachment, emotion regulation) and social factors (parental care and social support) determine the implementation of developmental tasks, taking into account the age of the child at the time that schizophrenia was diagnosed in the mother (before 10 vs. over 10 years of age; B10y vs. O10y). PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURE: The sample consisted of 47 (34 women) highly functioning adult offspring of mothers suffering from schizophrenia. They responded to self-report measures about their current functioning and gave retrospective information about their childhood. RESULTS: The results show that the timeliness, inconsistency and excessive demands of the mother are higher in the O10y group than in the B10y group. The lack of awareness of experienced emotions, the need for support, inconsistency in the mother’s parental attitude and diagnosis O10y were predictors of punctuality, while the available instrumental support, the need for support and the inconsistency of the parental style were found to be predictors of the acceleration of developmental tasks. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the group is heterogenous in terms of psychosocial functioning and developmental characteristics, so the type of support should also be diverse.