Family Expressiveness, Criticism, and Affect in Emerging Adults: A Retrospective Multi-Informant Study

This study tested a model linking mothers' rating of family expressiveness when their children were growing up to their emerging adults' current positive and negative affect through current perceived familial criticism. Model invariances across types of families (divorced vs. nondivorced parents) as well as emerging adults' genders were also investigated. Participants consisted of 190 dyads composed of emerging adults and their mothers who all completed questionnaires. Path analyses revealed that the model provided an acceptable fit to the data. Current perceived familial criticism mediates the relationships between past negative family expressiveness and emerging adults' current positive and negative affect. Multiple-group analyses confirmed that the model was invariant across types of families and generally invariant between emerging adults' genders. This retrospective study provided multi-informant support for the role of the family environment in emerging adults' affectivity.