The relationship between perceived parents' childrearing practices,own later rationality,and own later depression

The present study tested Ellis' (1971) hypothesis that maladjusted emotion is caused by irrational beliefs learned during childhood to some extent from the parents. Students enrolled at the University of Orebro (n=180) completed questionnaires assessing parents' child-rearing practices during the respondent's first sixteen years of childhood as perceived and remembered by the respondent, the respondent's own rationality, and the respondent's own depression. A regression analysis indicated that child-rearing practices characterized of enmeshed relationships between parent and child is indicative of irrational beliefs on behalf of the parents. In turn, this leads to an irrational kind of child-rearing that significantly predicted the child's own rationality as an adult. The child's own rationality in turn significantly predicted the child's own depression. Results were interpreted as supportive of Ellis' hypothesis.The author wants to express his thanks to Miss Sofia Bergenbrandt, Miss Cathrin Gustafson, and Miss Katarina Hedlund for doing the data collection.